


Across the Waters

by FindingSchmomo



Category: Free!
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-01-16
Updated: 2015-01-15
Packaged: 2018-01-08 22:10:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 19
Words: 60,426
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1137984
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FindingSchmomo/pseuds/FindingSchmomo
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Haruka is a dolphin adopted by Makoto's family into a pod of orcas after being orphaned by a shark attack. The two are inseparable until an unfortunate event brings them worlds apart. Makoto does everything he can to bridge the gap, Rei and Nagisa are so gay for each other, and Rin can't seem to catch a break. </p><p>Note: Makoto and Haruka (and any other sea person) appear like mermen creatures amongst each other while to normal humans they appear like the actual mammal/fish they are. If that makes sense.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Haruka and Makoto are quite happy being side by side.

“Haruka! The pods leaving, we need to keep moving along.”

Haruka looked up from his lazing about at the edge of the territory the orca pod had been using. He was leaning against a rock, resting his head and wondering about the vastness of the ocean and the oddness of his life. He drew lazy patterns on the gray smooth surface of his resting place. His tail curled slightly and the blue gray of its back blended quite nicely with the rock. He rested his slim pale face on his other hand, only having his blue eyes glance up at the voice’s owner. 

The orca floated above him, just about his size, and with a soft smile on his pleasant face. His shoulders were much broader, his arms more muscular, and his eyes a shining green. Soft brown locks, much fluffier and lighter than his own dark hair, floated about his face from the water. The long black and white tail swished lazily behind him, keeping him afloat and at level with his friend. A hand extended to him, an offering he graciously took. “Moving North?” Haruka asked, hauling himself away from his ledge to float beside the killer whale. 

“Yep! We’re heading for colder waters, hopefully there’ll be some seals.” Makoto, the orca, continued, thinking aloud, “Oh and I’m sure we’ll see some fish and mackerel for you.” He added quickly, as if reading the dark haired boy’s mind. 

Because Haruka was not, in fact, a killer whale. He was a dolphin, orphaned at a young age from a vicious shark attack that decimated most of his pod and all of his close family. He remembered the ferocious night quite clearly, remembered the bitter taste of blood swirling around him in the ocean, remembered the shrill shrieks of dying cetaceans. Most importantly, he remembered the same offered hand, although much smaller at the time, bringing him out of his hiding spot and into the protective company of a friendly orca family.

Where he had remained ever since, mostly glued to Makoto’s side.

Their hands remained connected as they swam toward the moving pod of a number of orca families, Makoto’s being only one of them. The massive creatures moved deliberately through the water just ahead of them, their large dorsal fins occasional breaking through the sea surface. “Haru, when we breach could you do some flips in the air? They look so amazing when you do them!” Makoto spoke up, looking over at his friend with an encouraging, excited smile. 

“Maybe.” Haruka responded, though he, himself, enjoyed his acrobatics and was certainly going to do them. He just liked being difficult. Makoto didn’t seem to mind though as he smiled more broadly in response, and quickened his pace. Soon enough they had caught up to the group, and remained in the outer rings. 

Makoto let go of Haruka’s hand, “I’m going to go check on Mama and the twins ok? I’ll be right back!” He notified, ducking into the group and out of Haruka’s sight. Makoto’s mother had recently given birth to two new calves, and his friend had not stopped talking of the subject ever since. He was a proud older brother, and very impatient to show them off to the world. Unfortunately, they were still too young to leave their mother’s side.

The dolphin did some lazy spins in the water, wanting to save the more advanced tricks for Makoto’s gaze but also wanting to stave off his boredom. He never liked when the pod decided to move spots, it required following the group rather than simply swimming freely about at his own pace and leisure. 

He kept his distance from the pod, feeling all the more an outsider without his near constant companion. The majority of the whales ignored his presence while still giving him the courtesy of allowing him to stay. It was only Makoto and his family that welcomed him so warmly. He didn’t really mind though. He enjoyed keeping to himself and was perfectly fine with the arrangement they had. 

He glanced at the group again, wondering when his best friend would return. He couldn’t help his wandering eye, and studied the mammals. He wished he could capture their form. He was in awe at the size of them. Killer whales were formidable killers, with a formidable size to match. Makoto was still about as big as him, but he knew it wouldn’t be long until he dwarfed him as well. And yet, he could never see Makoto hurt anyone out of malice. Sure he helped his family with the hunt, but he was terrified of any darkness the ocean had to offer, and clung to Haruka’s side most always. 

Haruka let a small smile slip his normally monotone features at the thought. A killer whale hiding behind a dolphin. A reality he was all too familiar with. He turned his head more as a burst of motion caught his sight as Makoto rushed out of the pod and toward him, a giant smile on his lit up face. 

“Haruka! The twins are starting to talk! A lot too!” He informed, his face showing every form of elation as he caught up to his friend. 

Haruka decided to let the smile stay, “I’m glad.”

Makoto grinned ever brighter, letting out a light laugh and motioning for the other to swim up with him. The dark haired boy readily followed, poking his head out to the surface and taking a nice gulp of air. 

Makoto breached beside him, shaking off some of the droplets from his brown hair and letting out more of his happy, boisterous laugh. He splashed his friend playfully, but Haruka only flipped his hair out of his eyes before diving back down.

He resurfaced soon enough, gracing his friend with a front flip. Makoto watched in awe at the show, as the rest of his pod soon breached for air as well. He waved at his mother and father from where he remained at the outer edge. They waved back and ducked back down. 

Makoto dove down and surged back up for his own jump, which was all he could do. He couldn’t do flips or dances like Haruka. But he didn’t mind all that much. Watching Haruka do them was enough for him. Instead he simply dove right back down with his friend and swum along with him. 

They played for quite some time along side the moving pod, making sure not to fall too far behind. It wasn’t until they finally tired out and decided to just swim lazily that their hands rejoined each others at their sides. 

“Haruka…Come meet my little brother and sister.” Makoto offered quietly, tugging lightly in the direction of the black and white whales. Haruka hesitated, never really liking squeezing into the inner rings of the pod itself. He felt like an intrusion. However, Makoto’s smile made him let out a tired sigh and finally nod. 

The brunet led his best friend with a firm grasp on his hand into the swimming mammals hoard, deep within to where the new mothers swam with their calves. Haruka stayed close to his escort and watched as no one gave him a second glance, other than the curious children.

“Mama!” Makoto greeted, swimming up next to his mother, she smiled at him in turn, before her eyes fell on his companion.

“Ah, Haruka! It’s been quite a while.” She greeted with a warm smile. Haruka gave a polite nod in return. “Oh! Haruka, have you met Ran and Ren? Ran, Ren come over here.” She beckoned, ushering the twins with her long tail. Two small orcas came into view, approaching with apprehension and keeping close to their mother’s side. They were half Haruka’s own size, but he knew they would eventually be twice as large as him. It was odd living with orcas. 

“Ran, Ren, this is Haruka! My friend.” Makoto introduced more properly, smiling at his siblings and hoping they would behave. They seemed a little less tense at their brother’s words and leaned a bit closer.

“Mama…he’s blue.” Ran spoke quietly, confused, her eyebrows drawn together as she tried to figure out how this was possible. She swam slightly closer and poked at his small curved dorsal fin. 

Makoto and his mother both laughed, while Haruka only let out a huff of indignation. “I’m a dolphin, so I look like this.” Was his only response to the curious girl. She didn’t seem satisfied with the answer, and continued her probing and investigating.

Ren remained silent but came forward as well, sliding a hand along the blue gray scales of Haruka’s tail, inspecting them closely. He then circled his arms around the others bare chest and attached himself to it. 

Makoto and his mother seemed to laugh some more while Haruka had trouble keeping up with their swimming pace with the new addition to his body. Luckily Makoto kept a firm grip on his hand and kept him from lagging too far. Ren did not see an issue with his new home, nuzzling into Haruka’s chest. 

“He likes you.” Their mother smiled, but seeing Haruka’s tense, uncomfortable body she soon added, “Now, Ren leave poor Haruka alone, they’ll be plenty of times for you two to play when you’re a little older.” She beckoned the pair back with a swish of her tail. Ren complied slowly, slipping off the teen and swimming back to his mother’s side, his sister following after. 

“Alright now, you two can go run off and have your fun. Just don’t stray too far alright?” She continued, shooing her son and his best friend off and out of the circle. Makoto nodded, waving a last goodbye before swimming back out, Haruka right beside him, as always. 

As they regained their place in the outer rings, they fell into a peaceful comfortable silence. They swam at a regular place, letting the water flow around them easily. Haruka tucked his hand back in Makoto’s own in order to be able to simply close his eyes and swim, knowing the other would lead him the right way. 

It was in this silence that Makoto finally spoke up, “Haruka…Do you ever wish you were with other dolphins instead?” His words were quiet, pensive, and his face expressing a serious aura. For Makoto his family was his world…it was hard to imagine not being with them.

Haruka opened one eye to glance over at the other with an annoyed-why-are-you-interrupting-my-swimming-peace-for-this look. Makoto gave him a sheepish grin. 

“Not really.” Haruka finally answered, closing his eyes once more to feel the ocean currents across his skin.

“How come?” The brunet probed, continuing to look at the other.

The dolphin shrugged his slim shoulders, and the question was dropped completely. Nevertheless, Haruka squeezed Makoto’s hand briefly, reassuringly, and Makoto seemed satisfied with that. 

“There better be mackerel where we’re going.”

Makoto laughed and the mood lightened immensely with the sound, he nudged the other playfully and the two started swimming more energetically into the distant ocean. 

And Makoto knew, deep down, in that shrugged off answer, that the pod didn’t even matter to Haruka. That all that mattered was Makoto’s ever present company, and the fact that it would remain just that—ever present.

At least, that was what the pair had always thought.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Im moving this story here. It was initially posted on FF but i will update both there and here.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Haruka and Makoto find a cave and Rin and Gou make their appearance.

Haruka continued swimming, unabated by his best friend’s whines and pleas to return to the safety of the pod. They were older now, teenagers, and swam away from the group all the time, sometimes not meeting up again for a day or two. Haruka knew that wasn’t the problem for his friend, the problem was where they were currently heading.

Haruka had a fascination with the ocean. He wanted to explore, he wanted to search out every crevice, every dark corner, every reef and gaze upon it. He wanted to swim the entire globe, to have danced in the waters of every ocean and sea. To feel the different currents swirl around his slim body. To have the flow of the ocean lead him through life.

Makoto wasn’t like that. He preferred the familiarity of his pod and family and of Haruka. He preferred the wide open ocean close to the surface, where the sun could still permeate through its semi transparent edge. He preferred the safety and predictability of his matriarch’s route, of his fellow orcas and of Haruka’s hand in his own. 

Still, Makoto cherished Haruka’s presence and indulged him in his little adventures. However, what Haruka was asking of him now was too much for his timid heart. 

“Haruka, please!” He continued, tugging him back with his trembling hands. He’d grown much bigger than the other, but he never liked using that to his advantage because it didn’t seem quite fair. As such, the dolphin simply pulled away from the tug, edging deeper into the depths of the sea toward the mouth of a menacing cave. 

“Just wait out here if you’re so scared.” He called with a huff and roll of his eyes.  _You have nothing to fear in the whole wide world, Makoto. You’re a young adult killer whale._ He couldn’t help but snap in his own mind. He would never say that to his friend’s face though. Still, if the slump in the others shoulders meant anything, it seemed he had read his mind. He’d forgotten the brunet could do that so easily.

Nevertheless, Haruka kept swimming into the dark cave until he could barely see in front of him. Makoto swam closely behind, clinging tightly to his arm and absolutely shaking. He buried his brunet head into the darker haired boy’s shoulder, clenching his eyes shut as if that blind darkness was better than the identical black shade of reality. 

Haruka’s tail brushed across the rocky ground and he pulled back in shock, making Makoto let out a shrill scream at the sudden movement. “It’s just the cave floor.” The dolphin assured, “It seems to be getting shallower…”

“We’re gonna beach ourselves and suffocate and die!” Makoto cried, the sound muffled by the others bare shoulder, “Let’s go back, Haru please!” His grip on the smaller boy tightened but Haruka continued relentless, down the narrowing corridor until he was forced to stop. 

“I think this is the end of the cave…” He murmured aloud, feeling around at the wall in front of him. He felt an empty space near the floor, finding a hole, slightly larger than himself. “Wait, there might be more…I don’t know if you can fit.” He continued, ducking down to inspect it more closely. 

“Haru, wait! Don’t go in there please!” Makoto begged, trying to hold the squirming mammal back. 

“I’ll go in for a second and come out. Trust me.”

Makoto hesitated, letting out a loud pained sigh before releasing his grip on the other entirely. His hands in turn went to clutching each other. Without another word, the dolphin swam through the hole and out the other side. Makoto waited impatiently, hugging himself and pretending he was in open clear, waters rather than this dark, cramped cave. He heard Haruka gasp from the other side and immediately pressed himself against the wall. 

“Haruka?!” He called with slight worry, knocking on the rocky surface. “Haruka are you ok?!”

“You need to come in here…” Was his only response, and he frowned at the vagueness of it. He ducked down to the hole. Pulling his upper body through only to have his tall dorsal fin impede any further progress. He whined, scrabbling in a valiant effort before giving up.

“I can’t.” He informed, moving his head about to search out the dolphin. It was lighter here, but still dark enough that one could only make out the slightest of outlines of forms. His best friend appeared before him, looking over his conundrum with critical blue eyes. Makoto let out a tired sigh as he lay on the cave floor while Haruka pulled at the weaker surface around the hole in an effort to make it somewhat bigger. 

“You should stop eating so much, you’re too big.” Haruka huffed, chipping away at the hole slowly. Makoto watched with a soft smile, feeling less tense with the other near him.

“Maybe if you ate things other than mackerel you would get bigger.” The brunet countered playfully. Haruka rolled his eyes and pushed Makoto back through the hole. The taller let out a shout of surprise, “Don’t put me back in the dark!” He pleaded, moving to slip back through the whole and into the fellow cetacean’s safe proximity. 

“Help me open up the hole then.” Was the dolphin’s only response as he went back to his job. Makoto mumbled out a fine and went to work as well, in the dark and silence. His fingers trembled because he was still quite frightened; although, when they brushed against Haruka’s own he felt reassured by his presence. 

“What’s so special about it anyway?” Makoto asked, the hole about big enough for him to fit. Haruka didn’t respond, but instead offered a hand through the opening. Makoto took it, slipping completely through with only the edge of his fin scraping against the rock. Haruka continued his ascent upwards, breaking the surface and taking in a much needed breath of air. Makoto followed suit, shaking his brown hair and blinking his eyes open.

He let out a gasp.

Haruka felt a small smile tug at his lips.

It was a small cave with a small opening at the very top where the moon shone through, filling the space with its dim shining light. It gave the place an unearthly glow and made the water shimmer beautifully as it reflected the numerous stars above. Makoto looked around in awe before finally resting his eyes on Haruka’s and smiling happily. 

Haruka wasn’t looking at him but could feel the warmth of the others gaze on his skin and it felt as if  _he_ was glowing rather than the water around him. 

“This will be our secret.” The dolphin murmured after a moment, swimming lazily about the pool. Makoto gave a silent nod, watching his best friend move gracefully through the still water. “How long are we staying in the area?”

“At least a few more days if not more.” The brunet assured, joining the other in his slow circles. Haruka hummed in response and they let the silence hang comfortably between them and the stars.

* * *

“We need to mark the spot before we leave.” Haruka insisted, swimming hurriedly over to their secret cave. Makoto swam quickly behind him, worrying his lip at leaving the pod just as they were about to begin moving to a new location. He’d been with his mother and siblings when Haruka had ushered him to follow, leaving them behind with a quick promise to return in the midst of the busy planning. Organizing the pod to move out after such a long stay in an area usually started quiet chaotically. 

They reached the cave and Haruka began looking around for some sort of marker. Makoto fidgeted about, his green eyes darting around the area. “What about that large black rock?” He wondered, swimming over to said structure, tucked a little further down. The dolphin joined him, and the pair decided to try to lift it together, and maneuver their way back to the cave entrance. It was heavy but definitely do-able, especially with both pairs of arms and patient swimmi— 

“Mako!” 

Makoto froze, letting go of the rock and whirling around. Haruka gasped at the sudden full weight of the rock and was forced to drop the mineral, watching helplessly as it descended to the dark depths of the ocean floor, out of sight. There wasn’t any time to dwell on the loss.

“Ran, Ren what are you two doing out here!” Makoto shouted, seeing his twin younger siblings swimming through wide, open,  _dangerous_  waters toward him. They were older now, but still much too young to be this far from the family. Makoto and Haruka were still relatively low and hidden in the darkness of the overhanging rock barrier where they had picked out the obsidian colored mineral. As such, Ran and Ren didn’t immediately see them, and stopped in their swimming to look around for their older brother after hearing the sound of his voice. 

Makoto let out a frustrated sigh and went to swim out to them when Haruka saw  _it_  and nudged his arm. He then saw  _it_  too, his entire form tensed and he quickly darted his eyes between  _it_  and his siblings. A terror coursed through his large body at the sight of  _it_. Especially as  _it_  was continually creeping closer to his precious baby sister brother. Constantly coming closer. And closer. And closer.

Haruka could feel his best friend trembling beside him, his eyes glued to the scene but incapable of moving. So Haruka made a decision.

“I’ll handle him.  _You_  get your brother and sister back to your mother.” Haruka hissed out quickly, much to Makoto’s surprise. And before he could even dare protest the plan, Haruka had darted out of their cover. Ran and Ren grinned at the sight of their friend and moved to swim after him. They soon gasped, however, when their dolphin friend collided with the shark they had not even seen. They shrieked, freezing up, as the predator pulled back in confusion before locking on to its aggressor.

Makoto grabbed a twin in each arm and hauled them away as quick as his powerful tail would take him. Snapped back to reality, the smaller orcas clung to him and watched over his shoulders at the fight they were being taken from. Makoto gritted his teeth, eyes peeled for any sign of the rest of his family. The pod had moved from whence he’d last left them. He was losing precious time. 

“Both of you get to Mom right now! Tell her there’s a shark in the perimeter and the family needs to move out now!” He ordered, as soon as his pod came into sight, and shoved the pair in their direction. The two calves seemed to hesitate a moment, but Makoto’s angry face and loud, “Go!” quickly had them turning and diving for the safety of the pod. The orca watched them go for a moment before turning right around and rushing to his best friend, swimming faster than he’d ever swum before. 

Haruka pulled away from the shark, slapping him with his tail and swimming backwards, mindful to go the opposite way from where Makoto had gone. The shark was faster though and lunged for the dolphin, pulling him back into his dangerous embrace. Haruka tried to push away and mistakenly placed his arm in a vulnerable position. He let out a loud scream as the shark bit into his flesh, hearing a sickening snap and seeing the blood gush out in front of him.

Using his tail he shoved himself off the other, trying to get some space between them. His arm hung uselessly beside him, continuing to spill the crimson liquid into the blue ocean. The redheaded shark before him’s eyes seemed to shine at the sight and he licked his lips hungrily, flashing a number of sharp, red tinted teeth. 

And in that moment, Haruka felt like the small helpless child watching his parents being torn apart. And he was scared, truly terrifyingly scared. He saw the shark about to spring back toward him and looked around helplessly before deciding to just swim up, right as the shark made his move. He was able to land a half smack on his rival’s face with the end of his tail, but it only made the predator growl and grow angrier.

The redhead surged after him, persistent, and clearly  _very_  hungry. Haruka kept his eyes focused on the ocean’s surface until he broke thought it. Springing out of the water and jumping into the air, before diving back down. 

In the distance, a local fisherman shouted at his fellow workers to look over at the sight. They had just finished reeling in their catch for the day and were on their way back to the distant shoreline. Before them a dolphin continued jumping out of the water, diving back down and doing the occasional erratic flip. They found themselves in awe of the show, counting their blessings at being delighted with such a sight.

However, one soon realized that something was indeed a miss, “Hold on a second…” He mumbled, “I think the poor girl’s hurt.” He pointed at the half torn flipper, bleeding steadily into the water. 

It was in that moment they noticed the shark chasing the injured creature from below the water. The assorted fishermen frowned, and watched on. It wasn’t until they saw the shark come up and take another bite at the suffering mammal that they turned to one another, a growing sympathy shared in their hearts. “Should we…help the girl…?”

They started preparing the hoops and creating a space on deck. 

Below surface Haruka clutched his bleeding, useless arm, twice bitten. Tears stung at his eyes but he continued his half hazard swimming and breaching in an effort to tire out the beast. It was to no avail, as the shark suddenly sped up and grabbed a hold of him.  

Haruka struggled weakly, angrily glaring at the grinning face in front of him. He was dead. He knew it. But he refused to go down so easily so he never stopped his vain squirming. He was losing so much blood already. He stared at the sharp teeth about to graze his neck and—

But the pain never came as a powerful force shoved the shark right off him and had him spinning away. Haruka blinked his fading blue eyes to see Makoto staring at him with such concern, large powerful tail having just saved him from death. 

“Haruka!” The brunet shouted, swimming closer and inspecting the weakening boy, “Haruka!” He repeated desperately. From afar the shark shook itself, gathering back his thoughts that had been knocked out of him. He didn’t have a death wish. He was no match against an almost full grown killer whale, and he could tell his side would be bruised from that blow. Still, he hung back. There was no way the dolphin was living after that. He would just wait and hopefully scavenging something for his troubles. 

Above the fisherman were shouting, “This poor girl’s got a killer whale after her now!” One of them called, readying their catching hoop. He lowered it into the water expertly, putting it over the dolphin’s head and starting to pull him up.

Makoto was still reeling from the sight of his best friend bleeding profusely, of his arm just  _hanging_ there and of the way his beautiful blue eyes seem clouded and distant. He stared at the foreign object, appearing around his dying friend from the heavens, in confusion before going to shove it off of him. Unfortunately, another fisherman took the blunt end of one of his other instruments and whacked the creature away. Makoto grunted, losing his grip on the dolphin as his vision danced for a moment. In that precious moment, Haruka, limp, was taken out of the water. 

The orca immediately surfaced, watching as Haruka’s form was placed on the boat and out of his sight. He rammed at the wooden structure angrily, banging on it, pounding on it, rocking it, anything. “HARUKA!” He shrieked, clawing at the boat desperately to no avail. 

Two fishermen focused on keeping their injured charged wet and hydrated and secure. One started steering the boat and hitting the gas for the far off coast. The last watched the hungry orca slam into their ship and continue to chase them. “I’m sorry boy…” He muttered with a slight frown, “I know you’re hungry but it’s a dolphin…” He reasoned, before reaching down to one of their caught fish and throwing it over to him as a pity snack. With that he turned to help the pair tending to their new patient. 

Makoto ignored the offering and followed the boat until it became a distant speck, unable to keep up with its motor. He was tired, the adrenaline had left him, and his tail throbbed from the powerful blow he’d delivered. He smacked the water angrily with a balled up fist, sinking down into the water in utter agony. 

He’d lost him.

He clutched his face and curled up as he sank far into the ocean, not even caring how deep he got. He ended up on some jutted out rocky ledge and laid there for who knows how long. He’d lost him. He was gone. Gone to who knows where. He had failed to protect him. 

 _Why the hell had he let him go after the shark?_  Regret consumed his mind in a poisonous black swirl as he relived the moment, replaying it in any other possible way.  _He was so stupid._  He could have forced Haruka to take his twins back and dealt with the shark himself. He was a killer whale, the shark would have left him alone. 

His stupidity, his _cowardice_  had just cost him the most important companion in his life. 

His whole body shuddered, and he realized he was out of breath. He swam back up and breached the surface, gasping. He wiped at his face and saw the stars above him. He’d been lying immobile for a long time. But that wasn’t the thought he dwelled on. Instead, he saw Haruka’s peaceful, blissful face in that wonderful cave, as the stars lit him up.

And it was all too much.

The orca let out a long, lonely mournful wail into the vastness of the sea before slowly slipping back down into its hollow depths, heading back the way he had come. 

* * *

“Rin?” A young female shark looked up from her resting spot in the dark hidden cave. Another shark came into her view, and she smiled up at him. He didn’t return the expression, but glided down toward her. 

“I didn’t get you a killer whale.” Rin muttered, offering her the dead fish he’d seen the fishers throw. She blinked at the offering, taking it and snapping it easily in two, giving him the other half. He took it hesitantly. He’d rather her have the entire pathetically small meal.

“I didn’t actually expect you to!” She assured, munching on her meal greedily. She made no comment on her brother’s prey, simply happy to be eating something. She had no room to talk after all, not anymore at least.

“I almost did.” He continued, watching her eyes light up at that, “I almost got you  _two_  in fact.”

“Really, brother!?” She couldn’t believe his words and gave him an incredulous look.

“There were these two young dumb ones, out in the opening, just waiting to be picked off.” He explained, using his hands to set the scene. “But then—“

“Then their mom showed up?” She guessed, and he frowned at her interruption, waving her off.

“No, see the weird thing is this dolphin attacked me.” He replied, making a motion with his one hand until it collided with his other one. 

She blinked, “A dolphin?” The redhead nodded.

“And then I almost got you a dolphin to eat.” 

“I love dolphin meat!” 

“Dont we all.” Rin readily agreed, “And I had him too. He was basically dead, I’d bitten his arm almost off and the blood smelled  _delicious_. But then this killer whale—“

“The young ones?” She offered, enraptured. Rin gritted his teeth, he just wanted to get though his story and shushed her.

“No, this other one from no where. He tail whipped me harder than you would believe! It was my kill, what a jerk.” He huffed, rubbing at his still stinging side, “But nobody got him in the end, the humans hulled him up.” He spat out, finishing his tale. 

She frowned, eating up the rest of her small meal, “Humans ruin everything.” She sighed out, sliding closer to her brother. 

“That they do…” He agreed quietly, ghosting a finger over his sister’s missing dorsal fin, the wound still fresh and healing. He felt his other hand tighten into an angry fist and clenched his sharp teeth together.

“I’ll catch us some dolphin for sure tomorrow.” He promised emptily, and the young girl hummed happily in response, closing her tired eyes. She didn’t expect him to fulfill the deed, but was happy to support his words to assure him. 

Rin looked up into the darkness of the water in front of their hiding spot, “Stupid humans…Stupid whales…Stupid dolphin.” He muttered out with a grimace, sliding his fingers through his sisters long red hair as she slept pressed against him. 

The world would be better without them.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Makoto makes a decision, Rei and Nagisa make an appearance, and Rin wonders if he'll ever catch a meal again.

Makoto didn’t find his pod again for a number of days. He swam slowly, with little purpose. He barely ate. He merely moved forward at a sad, sad pace as life around him lost all meaning. Sometimes he contemplating not surfacing for air, but his body always forced that on him. 

For the first time he found himself quite thankful that he was indeed an orca, and safe from virtually any other predator because he honestly was not paying attention to his surroundings nor was he willing to put up a fight if something did try to eat him. Still, he clung cruelly onto life. 

His pod saw him before he saw them. He heard their cries and didn’t even want to look up. A part of him wanted to swim away and hide in a dark cave and never emerge again. Yet, he remained still as he was soon surrounded by concerned familiar faces. His mother and father pushed their way through the ring, hugging him close to them. He felt like a small little calf and clung to them without another word. Shuddering and shivering and wailing. 

The rest of the pod, not in his immediate family, quickly backed off to give them space, as he buried his face in his mothers neck and tried to calm himself. He was almost a grown man. He had to be strong…despite the world crumbling.

It was Ran who finally blurted out what was on everyone’s mind, “Where’s Haru?”

Makoto pulled back, wiping at his face and trying to stop his shivering. His family looked upon him with concern. “Was it…Was it the shark?” His mother finally asked, quietly.

Makoto shook his head, much to the surprise of the other orcas. “H-He was hurt b-by the shark.” Makoto bit out, “But he was alive when I got to him and he w-would have been fine! He would have been fine…” His tail flipped at the water angrily in frustration, “But I was too slow and the humans—“

“Humans!?” His father repeated in shock, to which Makoto nodded quickly. 

“Th-They took him. I followed the boat for as long as I could but…But i wasn’t fast enough and—“

His mother drew him into a hug, smoothing his hair and shushing him softly. “I’m so sorry, I’m so very sorry.” She kept repeating into his ear and it was all he could do to not descend into a cacophony of sobs and wails. “But thank god you’re ok.” She continued, pulling back and smiling sadly at him. And it made him stop and stare at her and think. 

Really think.

If he had been the one lost, would Haruka have been welcomed back into the pod? Or would they have cast him out and let him die.  _Thank god_ ** _you’re_** _ok._ He repeated in his mind as he pulled away from his mother, who looked at him with surprise. 

He felt sick. 

“Makoto, you look starved, come lets get you some food.” 

Makoto couldn’t really argue with those words and silently followed his family back to the pod. He clutched his hand into a fist. His fingers felt so empty.

He felt as if he had just been torn in half. 

* * *

“Rei-chan!” Nagisa called, skipping his way over to the taller man with a pout, “You didn’t come to lunch!” He hid his arms behind his back and leaned over to see what the blue haired man was up to. For some reason he hadn’t turned around yet to greet or yell at him which was quite unusual.

“Sorry, Nagisa-kun.” Rei waved off, standing over the scene unfolding before him. “Something came up.”

“What’s wrong?” Nagisa asked, suddenly worried as he tried to peer around his coworker curiously. 

“Some fishermen caught an injured dolphin and brought him here.” Rei explained, scooching over to the side to allow the shorter man an opportunity to see. “His flipper is badly damaged, we’re lucky it wasn’t ripped off completely or there would be nothing we could do. As such, the veterinarians believe they can patch him up, but full recovery is below 20 percent.” He sighed out, pushing his red frames up his nose. 

Nagisa frowned, looking over at the sedated creature and the swarming doctors tending to it. “Well, at least he’ll live right?” He offered, positively.

“…I suppose…” Rei murmured out, never taking his eyes off the dolphin. 

Nagisa looked over at him and pouted at the serious face. He tugged at the others arm, forcing him to look at him with a questioning gaze. “You’re not doin’ anything necessary, just hovering. Let’s go get lunch! I need to eat before my next show!”

Rei sighed and nodded after a moment, allowing himself to be led away by the shorter man out of the dolphin area and toward the employee lounge. Still, the dolphin lingered in his mind. He was glad he was going to live, but he didn’t agree with interfering in nature so directly…But did that make him callous? He wasn’t sure. He decided to forget about it now, and simply enjoy his meal with his overly bubbly coworker. 

* * *

Makoto kept to the outer rings of the pod, swimming listlessly along with them. He tried to smile, he really did, but it would never stay. Smiling used to be so easy. He felt guilty about how sad he was, because it made his own family sad to see him this way. It wasn’t their fault he was like this, there was nothing they could do. 

He felt especially bad for his little brother and sister. He didn’t want them to feel any way responsible for what happened to Haruka. He didn’t want that guilt to weigh down their hearts. So he tried to be happy, he really did. 

But he just couldn’t.

Because everything in the whole ocean reminded him of his best friend. From the water that swept across his fins, to the hops into the air of his fellow podmates, to the dark crevices and corners of the sea floor. 

He’d never hated the ocean more than now. 

And he realized that he couldn’t give up on Haruka, he couldn’t leave him in the limbo of captivity or death.  Even though it was impossible, he wouldn’t be able to live with himself if he didn’t at least try to get him back. Or confirm the worst.

He shook the the last thought away. 

And that was how, only a few days back with the pod, he decided to leave it once again. He didn’t tell anyone, but he suspected many assumed. He hugged his mother and smiled at her warmly. She didn’t seem to want to let go, but she inevitably did. He patted his little brother and sister on the head and grinned at them. He didn’t say goodbye. 

In the morning he was already gone, slipping away in the darkness of the night and heading back the way he had come and feeling slightly freer with each sweeping motion of his tail. 

* * *

“Nagisa shouldn’t you be with the killer whales.” Rei pointed out, trying to shoo his more senior co-worker away from his area. Nagisa remained stubbornly in place by his side. 

“I’m on break! And I worked with dolphins before, longer than you have too!” He snapped back easily, leaning over the solitary tank. The injured dolphin was being kept separate from the rest of the amusement park’s collection, for fear they might worsen his condition. “He looks lonely…”

“It can’t be helped.” Rei sighed, coming down to crouch beside the other.

“…So is that why you haven’t been spending time with me on your breaks and lunch, Rei?” Nagisa smiled slyly, “You’ve been keeping this little guy company haven’t you?”

Rei turned his head to the side to hide the red tint on his cheeks, before stuttering out, “It’s my job!”

“You’re not the only dolphin trainer here.” Nagisa continued playfully, grinning at the reaction he was receiving. However, he took mercy on the other and changed the subject after a moment, “At least his fin looks like it’ll get better… I mean he is swimming after all.”

“Very little though…and slowly.” Rei reminded, frowning at the dolphin in the tank. 

“Does he have a name yet?”

“Not that I’m aware.” The blue haired man answered truthfully with a shrug. 

Nagisa hummed, stepping over to where the dolphin was floating sadly and peering at him, “Ne, Flipper, what should we call you?” He asked with a smile, rubbing the dolphins head softly. 

The dolphin looked over at the touch and stared at the other. The blond laughed, petting him some more, “Flippers no good right? What about…Leon? No…Kira?* Hmmm.” Nagisa continued to list off possible names, none seeming to attract the dolphin’s attention. 

“How about ‘Haru’?” Rei offered, coming over and offering the cetacean a fish for his trouble. The dolphin ignored the blond in favor of the meal, eating it readily. 

“Haru? How come?”

“Well, logically speaking, we received him on the spring equinox, the official day of the season. In addition, the kanji can also be seen as mean ‘distance’ and what with the separation he is currently undergoing for the time being it seems apt. Furthermore—“

“I get it. Haru it is!” Nagisa quickly interrupted, losing interest in the indigo head’s actual reasoning. It sounded pretty and that was enough for him. “Oh darn, I gotta go!” He whined, glancing at his watch, “Rei, take your break and come watch the first part of my show!”

“I’ve seen it already.” Rei answered truthfully, only to get attacked by Nagisa’s big, wide, teary eyes. He groaned after a moment, mumbling out a, “Alright, fine.” And allowed the shorter man to drag him back out of the dolphin area and into the killer whale one next door, giving the injured cetacean one last look.

It had surprised him considerably on his first day of work when he was partnered up with Nagisa in order to learn to be a dolphin trainer. It had surprised him even further that they weren’t actually partners, he was just an apprentice under the others wing. 

Finally the biggest surprise was the fact Nagisa wasn’t even a dolphin trainer anymore, but had volunteered to show him anyhow due to the shortness of staff. Nagisa had already graduated from dolphin training and cleared up the ranks all the way to the top killer whale instructor the park had. It astounded Rei how talented the short, bubbly blond truly was. He would never have guessed. 

Rei was a decent swimmer, especially considering how recently he had learned the sport, but he was no match for Nagisa’s skill. It was no wonder he was the top trainer of the park, he could handle himself impeccably well in the water. His small stature made the orcas he worked with seem all the more massive and impressive. And his cheery smile won the hearts of everyone in the audience. 

Usually he was captivated by his performances, they were of the utmost beauty in his scrutinizing eyes. But today, however, he kept glancing over to the neighboring show tank, where a few of his coworkers were practicing with some dolphins. He looked beyond them, to the barely visible solitary tank of his ward, wondering if ‘Haru’ was swimming more energetically, or if, maybe, his fin was hurting him too much. 

* * *

Makoto had never swum so purposely before in his life. He had never swum in open waters by himself like this. It was simply him, the whole wide ocean and whatever fish dared to cross his path. He didn’t really know where he was going, simply swimming on the notion that the boat went in a straight path to its destination. He was compelled forward, and completely focused on the task at hand. 

The only moments that made him stop in his mission was when his stomach demanded nourishment and he was forced to hunt around. By himself, he would never be able to catch anything big and filling, so he sustained himself with smaller fish every once in a while.

It wasn’t healthy but he didn’t care. 

It was not until a few weeks of this he realized that this idealistic mission was destined for failure if he didn’t change something soon. He wasn’t swimming as fast or long as he could, he was hungry all the time, and the lonely journey was starting to crack his usual calm demeanor. If only Haruka were here. 

But that was the whole point of the mission anyway. 

In addition, he had a sinking feeling he was no longer going the right way anyhow. He’d always simply just followed his pod, trusting the matriarch and her navigational skills. Why hadn’t he paid more attention at the beginning of this foolhardy trek? He felt sick, he felt disoriented and he felt so very alone. 

He surfaced up for some air and smashed the water’s calm surface angrily with his tail in frustration. There was no coast line in sight. 

He ducked back down beneath the waves and decided to search out some dinner. His movements were quick and choppy. It was no wonder everything in the ocean seemed to be keeping its distance from him. However, the thought didn’t dawn on him and he only grew more irritated. 

He tried to take in a calming breath but only felt his stomach growl in response. Still, his behavior was getting him no where. Why did he even go on this journey. It was pointless. He would never find Haruka. How could he? He was gone…Forsaken to the realm of humans never to be seen again. Most likely dead from his wounds. He wanted to scream again and shout and thrash and—

He paused, peering into the distance at a foggy figure swimming a ways away. He swam toward it slowly, trying to keep quiet. Perhaps he could finally eat  _something_.

But then he actually saw the creature. 

“ _YOU!”_

The shark whirled around, revealing its read long hair and confused expression to the orca behind him. It stared at him in shock, trying to understand the sudden shout from the orca now racing toward him. His side stung and his eyes widened in recognition as he watched the powerful black and white tail push through the ocean. 

Rin made the split decision of abandoning the school of fish he had been following in favor of high tailing it away from the dangerous killer whale. Which was a bit of a blow to his ego but at the same he had a sister to feed.

Rin was faster than the killer behind him, but the guy just would not quit. He changed strategies, taking a sharp left and ducking into an underwater cave, just squeezing in. Makoto charged right in, only to find his dorsal fin blocking him. He growled in frustration, pulling back and swishing his tail about angrily. 

“Get over here right now!” Makoto shouted, reaching an arm into the dark cave desperately. He received a bite for his trouble, but luckily pulled back before any really damage could occur. He glared, cradling the injured appendage, as a trickle of blood slipped down his forearm. “You son of a bitch. It’s all your fault!”

“Look,” Rin snapped, getting annoyed and a little restless of being trapped in the relatively small hole, “I don’t get what your problem is. The dolphin attacked  _me_. ‘Course i was gonna try to kill it. You’re a killer whale don’t you know this shit?”

“You were going to kill my little brother and sister!” Makoto hissed back angrily. 

Rin grimaced but remained firm, “A shark’s gotta eat.”

Makoto let out a frustrated noise and darted away from the opening. Rin waited a moment before poking his red head out to check if he was in the clear. He slowly maneuvered his way out and back into the open waters. He let out an angry sigh, the school of fish was definitely gone by now. He couldn’t afford to go back with nothing. He gritted his sharp teeth, about to go head out and look some more when two hands grabbed his shoulders firmly and whirled him around, bringing him face to face with the brunet. 

“You almost killed my best friend and got him captured! You think I’d just leave!”Makoto growled, glaring down at the shark. 

Rin thrashed in the strong grip, not used to being dominated so easily. No one normally messed with sharks, but he had been running into a lot of meddling dolphins these days. “What are you going to do? Kill me? Eat me? Ya think that’ll bring your stupid dolphin pal back?”

The brunet glared harder, shoving the other on the cave side. The red head grunted, his eyes squinting shut before opening to stare at the other. “I don’t have time for this!” He continued unabated, “You should be blaming the humans not me! Fuckers always meddle with our lives. You think you’re the only one who’s got a vendetta? Get over yourself.”

The orca’s angry face flashed with confusion and the shark finally pulled free, swimming backwards to keep his distance. “Now you gonna control yourself?” He called back, watching warily as the other simply floated where they’d parted. 

The orca sent him a glare before shooting upwards, much to the shark’s surprise. That is, until he realized that the other must have been holding his breath or something. He always forgot dolphin had to do that dumb shit. The whale soon dipped back down and headed back toward him and the shark tensed himself. 

However, the orca simply kept swimming past him. The shark rolled his eyes and discretely let out a sigh of relief. And…felt a slight guilt in his stomach at the lonely being. He’d never seen a dolphin on his own like that. Usually he tried to bury down any gushy feelings like that but for some reason…

“Hey, you know…If he were alive they’d probably take him to that park on the coast…” He called, half heartedly. He almost thought the other hadn’t heard him he was so far away.

But then he saw the distant figure freeze and whirl around like a hurricane just to shoot right back toward him. The brunet grabbed him suddenly, gripping him tightly and with the most desperate look Rin had ever seen on a mammal hissed, “Show me where!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *Actual names of dolphins from one of Japan’s parks


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Makoto continues to be too big to fit anywhere, and Haruka has trouble fitting into this new environment.

Haruka blinked his eyes open, his vision bleary and his entire body feeling weighed down and drowsy. He groaned, shaking his head and rubbing at his tired eyes. With only one arm. He blinked and looked down to find his other arm bandaged up and attached firmly to his side. He furrowed his brow and want to rip the bandages off when everything suddenly came back to him like a blow to the head.

The shark.

“Makoto!” He shouted, suddenly wide eyed as he spun around the water and looked about. “Makoto?” He called out, once more, but quieter and more hollow. He realized something was very wrong. The water around him was still, empty and relatively shallow. He was surrounded by walls. 

His heart started to race, and he swam fiercely to one edge of the tank, having difficulty staying balanced without the use of his arm. He hit the wall and let out a gasp. He came up for air, looking around wildly, desperately. He swam around in circles, growing slower every revolution before he finally stopped. His arm throbbed painfully and he floated listlessly, whispering a sad, “Makoto…”

* * *

“I’m not gonna take you that far and that close to humans!” Rin snapped back, shoving the persistent whale away, “Look, I’m fucking hungry and your lumbering ass is scaring away all my meals.” 

“I’ll help you hunt!” Makoto pleaded, following after the shark, desperation shedding off him in waves at even the smallest ray of hope of getting Haruka back. 

“Sharks hunt by themselves.” Rin growled, speeding up his strokes. Why had he opened his big mouth anyway. It never did him any good. He glanced over his shoulder to see the whale was still following him. He gritted his sharp teeth. 

“Well, you’ll catch something bigger if I help!” Makoto continued, coming up beside him, “And you can have the whole thing I swear! And if you take me to this park thing I’ll help hunt with you the entire way!” 

Rin growled, scooching slightly to the side, uncomfortable with how close the orca was to him. Still, a big meal would be very nice at the moment…Gou needed food if she was going to get better.  _If she could get better_. He shook the thought away quickly enough and looked over at his stalker, “Ok look. We hunt  _this one time_. And I’ll think about it. But no fucking promises ok!”

The orca nodded vigorously, giving a hand motion to lead the way. It annoyed the shark, who made an aggravated noise before swimming off in the direction he had been going. The orca silently followed, trying to keep quiet. It was obvious he was having a hard time about it. Especially since he gave up after only a few seconds.

“Um…Mr. Shark….How do uh, sharks hunt?” Makoto spoke up, scratching his cheek awkwardly and feeling every sense the idiot he’d come to realize he was.

Mr. Shark lashed his tail angrily in the water in front of him, “Call me that again and I’ll kill you.” He snapped, “My name’s Rin.” He added after a moment, almost hesitantly.

“I’m Makoto.” The orca replied easily, speeding up a little so he was beside the fish once more. He didn’t care to talk to his tail the entire time. He didn’t understand why the other kept moving away when it was clear he would not hurt him. But he allowed him his space. “So how do shark’s hunt?”

“Silently.” Rin bit out, flicking him a look.

“Orcas are the opposite! We talk a lot, coordinating everything and planning out different strategies as we surround seals or what have you. It’s really quite exciting and—“

“What part of silently don’t you get!?” Rin barked, snapping at the orca in impatience, “Either keep quiet or leave me alone.”

Makoto bit his lip and nodded. He never realized he was so talkative…or rather Haruka never found it annoying. Haruka didn’t talk much, not that he needed to. He wondered if Haruka was talking to someone right now…He wondered if he was still injured or in pain. 

He blinked the thoughts away and hurried after the shark who had continued on. He fell into step beside him and remained as quiet as he could. The waters were cold, but not too cold. Makoto was slightly annoyed that they were regressing from the direction Haruka was most likely at but did not make any comment. They continued on for a while until the brunet spotted something.

“Rin.” He whispered, coming up close to him. The shark sent him an angry questioning look. “There’s a seal over there, above water, resting on that ice patch.” He continued, motioning slowly with his tail to the distant form. “I’ll tip it over, you kill the seal.”

“You’ll what?” Rin hissed back watching the orca speed away smoothly. The mammal gave him a wave, and no response. Rin growled and hesitated, before following after the whale. He reached the ice patch and allowed Makoto to direct him to the opposite side. 

The shark tended to stay clear of killer whales whenever he saw them moving in their groups because he didn’t really have a death wish. And as such, he’d never truly seen them hunt before. He hung back and waited as the orca did, surprisingly, exactly as he said.

Makoto surfaced behind the ice block, taking a breath and making the patch rock slightly. He didn’t stay out long and after a moment dived right back down only to spring up under the edge of the icy surface, using all his strength to lift the piece off water. Rin watched in awe as the entire back side lifted into the air, and the sleeping seal woke up and scrabbled on the surface, barely clinging to it but remaining steadfast. Makoto ducked back down, looking over at the shark, “Get ready!” He called before surging back forward and actually flipping the ice patch over.

As soon as the seal hit the water Rin dived for it, grabbing it with in clutches and biting deeply into its neck until it felt heavy and limp in his arms. The orca soon swam up to him a broad grin on his face. “Will you help me now?” He asked desperately, trying to ignore how hungry he was in favor of getting on the shark’s good side. 

Rin also ignored his own hunger, pulling his mouth away from his future meal. “Let’s get this back to my sister first.” He replied quietly, swimming off. “I need you to watch out for other sharks for me. They’ll be attracted to the blood.” He ordered, never stopping his swimming. 

Makoto blinked before moving after him, “Sister?”

* * *

Haruka ate the offered mackerel, scrutinizing the human above him. He was hungry so he ate it. But he didn’t trust the blue haired man. Nor any of the other humans that tried to greet him and rub his head. He swam away to the other side of his tank, staying beneath a surface for as long as he could. 

“Still isn’t warming up, huh?” Nagisa muttered, coming up behind Rei and kneeling down behind him. He rested a chin on his shoulder to look over him. Rei tried to shrug him off but the blond persisted until he gave up.

“He  _was_  traumatized by the attack. A shark  _and_  a killer whale. The probabilities of such an encounter are .0009%. It’s quite amazing.”

“You made those numbers up.” Nagisa insisted, raising a brow and looking at his coworker in disbelief. His lips ghosted over the other warm cheek and Rei turned his face away, responding only by flicking his glasses back up the bridge of his nose. The blond decided to drop it and turn his gaze back to the dolphin, “How’s his fin doing?”

“Still damaged but he has been using it more. We are hoping to remove the splint in a week or two. Then we’ll start trying to train him. Hopefully he’ll be more responsive by then.”

Nagisa hummed and slipped away from his coworker in favor of sitting cross legged beside him, brushing their knees together. Rei hesitated but allowed the contact, “Nagisa…Shouldn’t you be at your post?”

The shorter man waved him off, continuing to watch the dolphin do sad slow circles purposely away from them, “This is more important.”

“N-Nagisa you’ll get in trouble! I won’t have you fired for helping me with my own duty!” Rei shouted in a loud indignant stammer. The blond merely laughed, smiling up at him which confused the blue haired man to no end.

“They can’t fire me, Rei! But aww, thank you! I didn’t realize you cared so much!” He praised, patting his ex-apprentice’s cheek proudly. 

Rei flinched, turning a bright tomato red and stammering out, “N-N-Nonsense! As a coworker I—“

Nagisa shushed him and laughed some more, “Now, now. Let’s get Haru to warm up alright?”

There was a pause as Rei calmed himself, “Alright.”

* * *

“Gou?” Rin called into the cave he’d left his sister in a long while ago. He always felt bad about leaving her alone for long periods of time, but there was nothing he could really do about it. He heard shuffling about, and his sisters red head came into view. She smiled a tired smile up at him, it looked strained. She must be starving.

“Brother,” She greeted, “Did you catch anything?”

“I did actually,” He answered, giving her a toothy grin. She blinked at the glimmer of the smug brother she once knew shining through once more. That fact was more exciting than the prospect of a meal. 

Rin came in fully and dragged the carcass of the seal into the small cave that, fortunately, widened out, “Here you go.”

“Oh my God!” The young shark exclaimed, licking her lips at the feast presented to her. “You caught this all by yourself?!”

As if on cue, Makoto slipped into the cave, although his dorsal fin prevented him from coming in entirely. That problem seemed to be coming up a lot in his life, much to his chagrin. He was about to introduce himself when the young shark began to shriek and lunge for him at his appearance. 

“No, Gou! He’s not gonna kill us!” Rin quickly shouted, restraining his frightened sister. Makoto quickly reeled back, banging his head on the roof of their hide out, and let out a pained groan. 

“H-He’s not?” She asked, trying to calm down while still staring wildly and distrustfully at the predator at their doorstep. 

“I’m Makoto…” The orca introduced, rubbing his head and smiling sheepishly at her, “I helped catch that seal you’re eating!” He explained, motioning at the meal with his free hand, hoping that was enough evidence of his lack of ill-intent. 

The young girl seemed to relax, shifting out of her brother grip, and laying back down. “Oh…” She vocalized, not really sure how to react to this turn of events. “Thank you…?”

“I know this is weird.” Makoto offered, smiling at her.

She nodded slowly, ripping a chunk of the dead beast and eating it self consciously. Rin joined her, and the two starved sharks feasted ravenously and enjoyed their meal. 

Makoto watched them with a lot of restraint, his stomach growling painfully and loudly. Apparently loud enough to make the pair before him stop their crunching and chewing. 

“You should have some too…” Gou mumbled, motioning with her hand after a moment. 

Makoto hesitated, flashing Rin a glance. The shark frowned before finally giving the slightest of nods and that was all Makoto needed to start eating as well. The meal lasted way too little. But for the three starving sea creatures, it was good enough.

“So…Brother…Why did you ask an orca for help…?” Gou finally asked the elephant in the room, before quickly adding, “N-No offense Mr. Or—Makoto.”

“I didn’t  _ask_  for his help. He invited himself.” Rin defended with a glower. Not enjoying the way Makoto chuckled lightly at the fact. 

“Your brother’s right. I need his help to find my best friend. So I offered to aid him in a hunt in exchange for it.” The brunet explained, resting his hands on his chin and his upper body along the cave floor. His tail swished about in the open sea behind him. 

“You know where his friend is?” Gou asked, still extremely confused about everything happening around her. Rin let out a tired sigh. The meal was not worth all this trouble.

“I  _think_  I know where he is. Pretty sure the humans took him to the sea park down by the coast south of here.” He answered, flicking a pebble boredly at the wall. 

“If he’s been taken by humans there’s nothing you can do…” Gou spoke out bluntly, looking at the orca in confusion. Was he out of his mind? Perhaps she shouldn’t have spoken so casually, the other still could try to kill them. Quite easily in her special case. 

“Don’t say that!” Makoto shouted, making the two sharks tense up at the sudden angry outburst, “I won’t give up hope that easily!” And then quieter, “I’ll be right back hold on.” The sharks watched, confused at the sudden change in tone as the larger mammal shimmied his way out of the cave and swam up.

“Doesn’t he have like…a pod or something? Orcas live in pods right?” Gou whispered, wondering about the mental stability of their guest. Everything just seemed so surreal.

“His friend isn’t even another killer whale. It’s a damn dolphin.” Rin informed with a roll of his eyes, “I can’t figure it out either.”

Before the young girl could respond, the orca returned, letting out a sigh, “Sorry, I needed to breathe.” He informed easily, settling back down to his spot. Rin snorted.  _Mammals_.

“Look, Makorca-whatever your name is, I can’t escort you all the way to the coast and find that building for you. It’s too long of a journey.” Rin explained, a serious expression on his face. He was going to put his tail down on the subject. For his sister. 

“Why not? I’ll protect you in the waters and help hunt and you can leave me the minute we get there!” The killer whale insisted, not even bothering to correct his name. “Please, you don’t understand, I  _need_ to get him ba—“

“No,  _you_  don’t understand!” Rin growled with impatience, his tail lashing and jaws snapping indignantly. 

“I can’t swim.” Gou explained, butting in with a soft apologetic smile.

“Yes, you can swim! You’re just having difficulties right now.” Rin corrected, sending her a glare. How dar she say it with such finality. She shook her head sadly, grimly. 

“You know I’m not going to heal from this.” She sighed with resignation, much to her brother’s displeasure. Makoto remained silent, confused, but obeyed when the girl motioned with her hand for him to move back a little. With the added space she ventured further into the light, revealing her wounded dorsal fin.

If wounded was the right word for it…It seemed to have been hacked off. Makoto gasped in shock, staring at the injury with wide green eyes, before letting them rest on her red gaze.

“What happened?” He asked, feeling a bit guilty for cursing the impracticality of his own dorsal fin because, at least, he still  _had_  his. 

“You’re not the only one who’s suffered at the hands of dumb humans.” Rin snapped, and Gou smiled sadly, nudging her brother a little. Makoto decided to drop it at that and fiddle with his hands. Sudden guilt and shame weighed in his stomach at the fact that, despite this new knowledge, his reckless desire for Haruka to be back at his side had not diminished in the least. 

“This…This may seem selfish of me, but I’m desperate. When we travel,” he turned to the young girl, “you could hold onto me, grip onto my dorsal fin, as we go. No one would come near us with me there. I promise to keep you safe. And we can have as many stops as you need!” He pleaded, “And again, we’ll be hunting together so we’ll be more successful with food…Please…I beg of you…”

“It’s just a dolphin.” Rin breathed out, trying to comprehend the lengths this whale was willing to go for some annoying show off of a species. 

“He’s not just a dolphin! He’s my best friend! My only friend! My…” Makoto faltered, covering his face with his hands in frustration. “He means a lot to me, o-ok?! And I need to do everything I possibly can to get him back….No matter how crazy!”

Rin didn’t seem impressed. However, his sister’s eyes shined at the exclamation, clasping her hands together, “Such loyalty…Such devotion!” She cooed, making Makoto blink in surprise. “Oh brother, maybe we should help the crazy whale out!” She cried, a sudden wave of sympathy crashing through her small lithe form.

“What?” Rin exclaimed, whirling to look at his younger sibling with his brows furrowed incredulously and full of concern for her mental state. 

“He did go through the trouble of catching our first decent meal in months! And he’s offering to continue to do so as well as guard us! Sacrificing so much for the slimmest of odds!” She explained, waving her hands about at the grandeur of the escapade. She was quite excited with the narrative she was weaving in her head. She took Makoto’s hand in her smaller one, shaking it. “We will escort you to your prince!” She declared firmly.

“Prince…?” Makoto repeated, confused. He dropped in favor of more pressing matters, turning to Rin, “So you’ll help me?”

Rin let out a long suffering growl, his tail lashing with annoyance. He felt his sister’s piercing stare and looked away. It  _was_  nice that she was getting hyped up about. He had not seen his sister so animated in a long time. After a long moment he finally looked back at the orca, giving a curt, “I guess.”

Makoto had not smiled so brightly since Haruka left his side.


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Rin tries to understand Makoto's motivation. And everyone does flips.

“This is so cool!” Gou shouted, clinging tightly to the large dorsal black fin as Makoto rocketed through the ocean. It had been so long since she had felt the ocean waves sweep across her skin, felt her hair billow behind her. How she had missed being able to swim. Rin kept a steady pace slightly behind the jovial pair, watching his sister carefully, fearing she might fall off at any moment. 

Makoto smiled up at the laughing girl,“Hold on, going up for air!” He warned and she nodded, and he could feel her grip tighten as he breached the surface for the needed oxygen before dipping back down. The girl giggled louder, clearly enjoying her ride.

“Faster, Makoto!” She ordered, patting his back encouragingly.  

“I don’t want to loser your brother.” Makoto protested honestly to the request. But all Rin heard was a challenge. 

“You think you could beat me in a race, Orca Boy?” He snapped, speeding up to reach the mammal’s side. 

Makoto lifted an eyebrow at the suggestion, “Umm, I don’t know?” He answered honestly with a light laugh. He had never been a competitive being. He’d rather just have everyone around him get along. 

The easy going answer pissed the shark off and he dashed into the distance with a sudden burst of speed. Makoto blinked, “Wow, he  _is_  fast!” He commented, watching the other zoom off. He felt a prod at his lower back and looked over his shoulder at Gou.

“Are you just gonna let ‘im say that? Go on! Defend your honor! Race my brother!” She continued, and Makoto gave her a perplexed look before shrugging and complying. After all, going faster did mean reaching the distant coast sooner. And reach the distant coast sooner meant seeing Haruka sooner. 

He sped up his movement; however, he was still mindful of the charge on his back. He caught up to Rin slightly, but never was able to overtake him. Rin seemed content with this, grinning his sharp toothy grin. Makoto gave him a pleasant smile back. He didn’t really care if he had technically lost, it was all in good fun to him. 

It felt nice to be in a pod again, a makeshift, odd unnatural one, but nevertheless! The orca had not realized how lonely he had been for those days wandering alone in the ocean. And who would have thought he would enjoy the company of two sharks? 

He felt a soft yet persistent tap on his back and slowed down, looking over at the red headed girl clinging to him. “Hmm, Gou?” He asked, blinking up at her in question.

“Actually, I prefer being called Kou!” She corrected instinctively, “And…I see over there a bunch of caves that I could hide out in while you guys go find some food…” She continued, pointing off a little ways ahead to a collection of rocky fixtures. 

Rin nodded, changing course immediately after his sister’s words. Makoto held mix feelings, wanting to swim further before pausing, but didn’t want to anger the two predators. Their trek had only seemed to just begin, and now they were already pausing. Yet, if Gou needed to rest he would not stop her.

It was going to be a long journey.

* * *

Haruka flexed his arm experimentally, wincing slightly at the dull ache. It still hurt, but it had healed quite well all things considering. A shark had almost ripped it off. He ran it through the clear water, feeling the drag and weight of its form. He pursed his lips in thought. It was still bandaged, but there was no splint keeping it immobile. He debated removing the cloth, but decided against it. 

He swam around his tank, relishing the feel of balance he had finally regained. He almost felt normal again. As normal as he could feel with these circumstance. He glanced over at Blue, the name he’d given to what he now came to see as his primary caretaker in this prison. He was smiling at him moving about freely with his arm. It was he who had just removed the splint. 

Haruka wondered what the other humans were up to. There were a bunch around, calling to one another and making some sort of fuss around his tank. He did his best to ignore them. He wanted little to do with their makeshift commands and whistles. He blinked when he caught sight of Yellow. 

Yellow was a shorter human who always seemed to hover around Blue. Except he gave Haruka more mackerel and therefore deserved more attention. He swam over curiously, wondering if he’d receive some fish for his trouble. 

He got a pat on his head and was displeased, ducking back down into the water in silent protest. It was then he realized there was a noticeable change in the still water. The fact that it  _wasn’t_  still. He blinked, and looked around to see a net being dropped about halfway through his enclosure. He swam to the opposite edge, pressing himself away from the net and finding himself quite confused. 

He looked over at Blue and Yellow, their hands were ushering him to keep moving as the net kept quartering him off. He flicked his gaze over to where they were pointing, his eyebrows furrowing in confusion. Had there always been a gap in the wall there? He was positive he’d circled this pool countless times the past few weeks and yet…he had never seen it. 

He swam over to it obediently, swimming through the make shift tunnel and finding himself in a new area. There was shouting and he looked up to see the humans closing off the section, the wall reappearing. He frowned, feeling at the new wall and wondering if he’d be able to break through it in any event or emergency. He was so consumed with these actions he hardly took notice of his new surroundings. That is, until the sound of understandable words, rather than incomprehensible human mutterings, made him freeze and whirl around.

Four other dolphins stared at him curiously. Three of them were female, the runt in the back male. He felt himself tense up at the sight of the small pod. The leader of the group was scrutinizing him. She had been the one speaking before, he was sure of it. She swam closer, circling him and poking about him. Haruka shied away from the touch, confused and feeling awkward. He never liked being near dolphins.

“What’s your name?” She asked, but it felt more like a command. Her eyes pierced into his and he quickly looked away to the side. His face remained stoic, but his entire body was tense, agitated. 

Haruka didn’t want to answer, and so he remained silent and still.

“Did you hear me? I asked your name.” She repeated, slowing down her speech assuming the quiet creature was slow or hard of hearing. She was losing her patience. 

Haruka didn’t even giver her a second look and instead broke the surface of the pool, seeing all the humans watching him and the small pod. He could easily tell that this enclosure was larger and deeper than his previous one. It was still an enclosure and not the sea, however. He found if he craned his neck he could see his previous tank, empty. He felt a rough shove and ducked back down into the water. 

“Hey! I’m talking to you!” The head dolphin snapped, sending him a viscious glare. The rest of the makeshift pod circled around him as well, but remained silent, watching and waiting. Buying their time. 

Haruka had never spent any time with dolphins. In his travels with Makoto they would see the occasional pod of his so called brethren. When he was younger he would curiously follow them for a few moments before returning to the orca’s side. He didn’t feel comfortable or safe with them. He’d been severed from his own kind, and he didn’t mind it one bit. He preferred it this way.

His old tank was small, lonely and boring. But he didn’t think he could take the constant presence of four others in a similar pool. He made his decision, pushing past the circle of confused cetaceans roughly and diving as deep down as he could. He steeled himself before bursting upwards, rocketing out of the water and diving back down into his old home. 

He couldn’t help the tiny smug smile at the gasps of his onlookers as he gracefully slipped back into the still waters he had grown awfully familiar with. There was a cacophony of noise around him and he ignored it expertly, swimming over calmly to Blue and Yellow. They had remained glued to their previous spots and were staring at him in amazement. He tapped at the latter’s knee, opening his mouth and trying to inform the dumb human that he was hungry and he wanted to eat. 

Nagisa and Rei looked at each other, still in shock at the sudden turn of events. It was a feeling mirrored by the rest of the staff. When introducing dolphins to one another skirmishes were normal and expected, but such a calculated and graceful escape? Especially from an injured one…

The blond, the most senior trainer present, decided to make an executive decision and fed the dolphin a couple fish before standing up, “If he wants to stay alone let him be. That jump is going to make the show, as soon as his swimming gets sturdier start the training sessions. We’ll have him come in the show by himself as a grand finale.” He informed, glancing around at his coworkers before resting his eyes on the dolphin now swimming lazy circles. “I knew you’d be interesting, Haru…” He added, mostly to himself, a broad smile forming on his face, “I can’t wait to see what other surprises you hold!”

Rei could never get used to when Nagisa threw off his playful childish side and gave orders. He stumbled up onto his two feet to follow after the shorter one, wanting to know his reasoning. “Wait up, Nagisa!”

Haruka watched them go, swimming his usual circles and wondering if Makoto and his family were doing well. But he didn’t like thinking about that. It made him sad, and made him want to stop swimming. It made him want to sink to the very bottom of his tank and never rise again.

But he always did come up for air because, he reasoned, if there was even the slightest possibility of getting himself back in the ocean and to Makoto, he would do his best to attain it. Even if it meant swimming boring circles for weeks on end to stay alive. 

* * *

They had been traveling many days now, Rin had lost count exactly how many. Well, he had never started keeping count but still, the fact remained. And yet, the orca he was escorting remained an enigma to him that he couldn’t quite figure out. It pissed the shit out of him. 

The orca was content in being bossed around by both him and his sister. Was perfectly happy letting her ride on his back for as long as she wanted. Never protested when they stopped and searched for caves. Never minded when they were too small for him go in. Never argued when he was forced to float about outside it, always claiming, “It’s easier this way for me to breathe, anyway!” 

And yet, the killer whale could turn serious, and Rin found it was mostly during hunts. He grew calculated, and strategic. His features more stoic as they stalked unsuspecting fish or the occasional mammal. It was as if he was a different cetacean all together. That is, until they killed their meal and the happy smile returned to the brunet’s face. 

 _That smile_. Rin repeated in his head,  _That smile is what pisses me off the most._  

It was soft, full of warmth and ever present. It fit so perfectly on the brunet’s features, with his droopy green eyes and fluffy brown hair. And yet, there was something amiss with it. It felt too perfect. Almost fake. Almost forced. Not blatantly so, but enough to arise suspicions. 

And, Rin knew for a fact it was fake. Or at least partly so. He could see the proof of his conjecture whenever the orca thought he was alone or unwatched. He saw it slip from his features and his green eyes seemed to cloud with worry. And it left a bitter taste in the sharks mouth  _knowing_  a stupid dolphin had this sort of effect on the apex predator. 

It was one such moment, with the killer whale floating about outside the cave with said expression and Rin checking up on his sister. She looked tired, and he nudged her deeper into the cave, further out of sight. She smiled lazily up at him and he rolled his eyes, but gave her long hair a comforting stroke. “I’ll be back.” He promised quietly, as she seemed to nod off. 

Makoto swam lazy circles around the small entrance, consumed in thought. It was times like these, when alone, that his worries seemed to take control of him. If his family was doing well, if the twins were joining the hunts yet, if they were eating well. If Haruka was ok, if Haruka was safe, if Haruka remembered him…If Haruka missed him.

He grunted from a sharp slap on his shoulder, turning around to see Rin giving him a look. He raised an eyebrow at him, offering a smile, “Oh, I thought you were gonna stay with Kou?” 

“Come with me.” Rin muttered, swimming a ways away, into the dark depths of the ocean where they wouldn’t be bothered. Makoto followed hesitantly, not entirely comfortable with the dark. Especially without Haruka guiding him and holding his hand. He bit his lip. At least he could still see somewhat.  _He was a killer whale, he could handle this_ , he thought to himself. Rin finally stopped, and turned around to face the mammal.

“You gonna tell me what the big deal is with this dumb dolphin of yours?” He finally asked, watching closely to see any clues in the other’s reaction and expression. Anything at all that could give him some peace of mind.

“Haruka?” Makoto blinked, confused at the sudden interrogation, “He was taken and I want to get him back.” He answered honestly, simply.

“But he’s not even an orca!” Rin reasoned, throwing his hands out in exasperation.

“He’s still a part of my family!” Makoto defended, crossing his arms, “We took him in after a couple of, err, sharks, killed his parents.” He explained giving a silent ‘no offense’ with a flash of his green eyes, “I’ve been with him my entire life.”

Rin took in the information, mulling it about, “You know the chances of finding him are slim to nothing.”

Makoto forced on a smile, his eyes closing, “I’m still going to try.”

“There! Right there! That damn smile. You’re obviously sad and angry so why the hell force on that stupid smile?” Rin growled, coming closer, practically shoving his pointed index figure in the mammal’s face.

“I smile for you.” The whale replied instantaneously, blinking his eyes back open before and leveling the shark a look and ignoring the accusatory hand,  “And Kou, I suppose…But she smiles a lot for herself so she doesn’t really need it.” Makoto chuckled warmly. “Plus what’s the use in frowning? Things have been getting better. When I was depressed all the time, swimming by myself on this crazy mission…nothing went right. So, I guess, I’m just trying to stay positive.”

Rin didn’t know what to make of the long convoluted answer. Especially as he only half listened to any of the words that spilled out of the orca’s mouth after his first sentence. 

“Oh, uh, excuse me a minute.” Makoto continued, looking slightly flustered before surging up toward the surface. Rin rolled his eyes. It seemed so annoying to have to constantly go up for air. He was thankful he was a fish. Still, he followed after the other, poking his head out beside him.

Makoto smiled at him and Rin reddened slightly, remembering his words. Luckily, it was dark out and the other remained oblivious to the change in expression. The silence reigned as the orca looked into the distance pensively. 

“Rin.” The brunet called, breaking the veil of peace, “Do sharks do flips?”

The red head raised and eyebrow, “Do we do  _flips_?” He repeated in indignation. “Of course we don’t do flips. We’re not some circus animal show offs.”

Makoto laughed at his words, “That’s too bad.” He sighed out, “I can’t do flips either. I’m too big. I can jump pretty high though.” He informed, a hint of pride in his words as he swished his tail and looked up at the moon in thought. “Haruka can jump even higher though…” He continued, his voice growing softer, his eyes seemed distant as it gazed at the stars, as if transfixed on a distant memory. “And he can do back flips and front flips and triple flips. It’s an amazing sight to see.”

Rin growled, splashing the other with his arm, making the orca sputter and look over, “Ya want some damn flips I’ll give you a damn flip.” He snapped, dipping down into the water. Makoto made a confused and shocked noise at the statement, before gasping as Rin sprung back up into the air.

He didn’t do a flip, but flopped back into the water quite ungracefully. The orca burst out in genuine laughter as Rin let out an angry embarrassed curse, slapping at the ocean surface. “Shut up!” He growled, barring his teeth as his face turned a bright red.

Makoto quieted his laughter, leaving behind only his smile, “Don’t be mad.” He murmured, “I’m no better at flips.” He added, ducking beneath the water and surging out in a graceful arc, right over the shark. For the first time in their journey, Rin marveled at just how  _big_  his companion was, as he watched the giant body somehow contort so easily in the air and slip into the water behind him. 

“That’s all I can do.” Makoto informed sheepishly, resurfacing beside him, “Actually I’ve been practicing doing it backwards! Or I mean…I haven’t practiced in a while and I always end up just crashing down…” He prattled on, “And just cause you kinda…flopped, don’t feel bad! It’s expected. That was the first time you’ve ever tried right? Your height was pretty impressive—“

Rin splashed him again, “You talk too much, you know that?” He sighed, giving a good eye roll as the brunet only smiled up at him. It aggravated him more. 

“Yeah, i know.” Makoto replied timidly, scratching his cheek self consciously. He ducked back down, trying out another jump, less impressive than the last. Rin, not one to be outdone, decided to partake in the game. The pair began a back and forth into the night, under the pale light of the stars.

“You’re getting better!” Makoto called, splashing about quite happily as the shark entered into the water more smoothly. Rin grinned up at him, and Makoto returned it. “And you’re loosening up!”

The redhead rolled his eyes at the comment, but the grin remained on his face nevertheless, “I think that’s enough jumping for a while.” He commented, ducking back down into the ocean. Makoto followed him, a spring in his step as he spun and swam happily beside him, occasionally brushing up against the shark. “What’s with you?” Rin commented, for once not minding their relative proximity.

“Thank you for doing that with me.” Makoto responded, flashing a genuine smile that made Rin flush slightly, if Makoto saw it in the dark waters he made no comment, only continuing, “It reminded me of home.”


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Makoto gets scared, Rin gets angry, Gou gets shippy, Nagisa gets interested, Rei gets results and Haru starts listening.

“Rei. Are you even listening! Hey Rei! Reiiiiiiiiiii!” 

Rei lifted his head up, blinking his eyes and looking over at his coworker. “Hmm?”

Nagisa let out a long suffering sigh, slouching in his chair, and eating another fry. They were sitting in the corner of the employee lounge, eating their lunch together during the break, as they usually do, “I’ve been  _talking_  to you.” He glowered at the blue haired man, chewing purposefully.

“Sorry.” Rei offered half heartedly, taking a sip of his water idly, “I give you my full attention.” He declared, straightening himself up and staring at him. 

Nagisa seemed content with that, sitting up properly in his chair. They were seated in high chairs at the small personal round table and neither of their feet touched the ground. However, unlike his calmer companion who kept his feet tucked in the legs of the chair, he swung his own freely in the air. “I think you should take over Haru’s training.” He continued, “I know you’re still shaky in shows and the finale is the most important part and it’d be really embarrassing if you messed up, like you’d be shamed and boo’d and—-“

“ _Nagisa.”_

The blond chuckled, waving an apologetic hand, “I still think you can handle it now! And Haru just wont respond to any of the other trainers.”

“He responds to  _you_  the most.” Rei reminded with what seemed to be the slightest tinge of jealousy, twirling his straw and giving his lunch date a look. 

Nagisa puffed out his cheeks in annoyance, drawing his eyebrows together, “But  _you_ are the dolphin trainer.” He retorted, leaning over the table and up at the glasses wearing man. “Plus he just likes me cause I treat him extra mackerel. He loves the stuff!” He winked and Rei rolled his eyes, “Now, you’ll take over Haru’s regimen and make him a star, won’t you?”

Rei pursed his lips and look to the side, only to have the blond lean even closer to him. He flushed slightly, “Nagisa! I can’t just take someone else’s job! I don’t have that kind of power!” He insisted, pulling his face away to give them some distance apart.

“But I do!” Nagisa responded slyly, a manipulative smirk flashing across his face that made Rei’s skin absolutely crawl.

“Nagisa!”

“Don’t worry about it!”

“I will!”

“Will you two lovebirds quiet down?!” One of the other trainers shouted from the other side of the lounge in frustration. Rei’s face bloomed a bright red as he turned away to fix his glasses. Nagisa only laughed at the comment, grinning broadly before leaning back into his chair and giving his company a thorough look.

Just as the blue haired man had calmed his nerves, the blond thought aloud, “We’d be a terrible couple.”

“Eh? Why would you say that?” Rei asked, feeling a bit offended at the comment. Not that he wanted to date him or anything. Of course not. Their relationship was strictly professional.

“You’re too naggy, and you think too much!” Nagisa responded easily, getting ready to count on his fingers all of his coworkers faults, “And you won’t train Haru—“

“I’ll train Haru! Ok, happy?” Rei interrupted, slamming a fist down on the table, making their cups hop in the air slightly. Nagisa smiled further, taking the hand in both of his own, much to the glasses wearing man’s confusion.

“And I’m sure you’ll do it beautifully!” The shorter man encouraged, tilting his head to the side. Rei grumbled something, flaming up and pulled his hand back. He muttered about getting back to work and took his tray with him out. Nagisa watched him go, slurping his soda loudly and kicking his feet in the air. 

He thought of the teasing comment as he watched the other’s nice tight ass in his black and blue jammers. He pursed his lips around the straw, thinking pensively. 

“He  _is_  hot.” He finally muttered to himself, giggling into his hand before grabbing his trash and heading out for his own post. 

* * *

“The water’s getting warmer!” Makoto realized, a smile growing on his face at the small realization. “That means we must be getting close, right?” He asked, turning towards his carnivorous escort. 

“Closer, but I wouldn’t say close.” Rin responded realistically, trying to figure out where exactly they were. They still had quite a ways, especially with his sister with them. But it was true that they were nearing the end of their journery.

“Still, it is something to be excited about!” Gou insisted, sliding up slightly to hug her ride. “Soon you’ll reach the coast and be tantalizingly close to your beloved! Oh, I’m so happy for you!” She cooed, nuzzling his back. 

Makoto laughed at the reaction, craning his neck back to look over at the girl. He’d long since stopped bothering to correct her word choices in her fantasizing over the grandeur of this relatively simple quest. It didn’t really matter to him anyway. The fact that she seemed so happy over it was enough for him to let her be. 

Rin, however, didn’t care for the exaggerations and let out an indignant huff, “It’s just his little dolphin friend. Not some long lost orca lover of his.” He reminded his sister with a little grimace, though he didn’t look over to show it to his companions. 

She waved him off with her hand, “But brother! The desperation of his quest, the slim chances of success, his persistence for his one true soul mate! The fact its not an orca just makes it juicier, a forbidden love!” She swooned drammatically. “Makoto, what does Haruka look like? Is he as handsome as you? As muscular?” She probed, sliding up to hook her arms around his neck to get closer to him.

Makoto chuckled, ignoring the weird description of his friendship, “Haruka? I guess he’s handsome. I never really thought about it… He’s slim and smaller than me but he does have muscles! Less than me I think, definitely less than Rin.” The young lady shark nodded, greedily taking in the information and waited for the other to continue, “Um, he has dark black hair and really blue eyes. He’s paler than me and can swim faster and more gracefully. His hand…is soft and smaller than my own…but it’s good that way…”

“Hmm?” Gou hummed, peering over his neck to see the orca gazing at his own hand in thought. “How’s that?”

“It fits perfectly in my own…” He mumbled, lost in memory. It had been so long since he had felt the dolphin’s hand in his own. The thought made him impossibly sad.

Rin gritted his teeth and Gou positively squeeled at the thought. “Makoto you’re killing me!” She cried, burying her face into his back. 

Makoto blinked, brought back to reality by the loud cry, “Eh? Do you need me to slow down? Want to take a break?” He asked, pausing in his swimming. 

Gou couldn’t help but laugh warmly at that, “Makoto you’re so sweet. Haruka’s a lucky guy!” She patted his shoulder, leaving him even more confused. Rin held a growl under his breath as his tail lashed at the water behind him.

“Let’s keep moving you two.” He snapped, pulling ahead and not looking back. Gou and Makoto exchanged a look before shrugging their shoulders and following after the shark, dropping the conversation easily enough. As they caught up to Rin’s side Makoto nudged him lightly with a soft smile and Gou ran a comforting hand along his back. The shark rolled his eyes, but his expression seemed to soften ever so slightly at their attempts. 

Makoto hummed, swaying in his swimming slightly, yet still mindful of Gou’s grip on him. All previous tensions on sad memories of the past gone, as he decided to focus on his present.

“What are you so happy about  _now_?” Rin sighed, sending him a sidelong glance. 

Makoto smiled wider, “I was just thinking…We make a good pod.” He laughed as he said it. It seemed so absurd. A pod of three. A pod of two sharks, one injured, and an orca. And yet, it did feel like a pod to him, and he was thankful for the feeling. An orca was nothing without his family. 

The sharks blinked at the comment, exchanging a glance and shrugging. Makoto knew they would never truly understand the sense of belonging hardwired in his being that drove him to make and form attachments like this…but it didn’t matter in the end if they couldn’t. It didn’t change the fact that Makoto held them in such high esteem and clung to the familiar bond growing between them.

* * *

Haruka slapped the water with his tail behind him, spraying Blue and soaking him further. The human wiped at his face and sighed in exasperation. Haruka could care less, ducking back down under the water and swimming away into the other corner of the tank. 

Blue had beckoned him over, and Haruka had obliged him, assuming he was being fed. However, to his displeasure, the human had pulled out a whistle from underneath his shirt. The dark haired teen was now quite familiar with that whistle. The sound screeched in his ears, and was some sort of signal for him to do a flip. 

No one would tell him to do a flip if he didn’t want to do a flip.

He swam freely. And that was that. 

He glanced over at his neighboring tank where he could see the other pod of dolphins listening to the humans and complying…and getting fish. He huffed.

A few days ago there had been many humans trying to coerce him into obeying their weird hand signals. And now they had all left. He didn’t care though. He was content swimming his laps by himself. The only one who persisted in his efforts was Blue.

From the corner of his eyes he saw said human pull out a mackerel from the bucket beside him. He zoomed over to him, popping up in front of him. He supposed Blue hadn’t expected such a quick reaction, as he seemed to jump back in surprise. 

Haruka waited and Blue seemed to sigh, before handing over the fish, which the dolphin ate contently. While he fed, the human rubbed his head pleasantly and he allowed it. 

“What am going to do with you, Haru…” Rei sighed out, still dripping wet. He looked over at the other side, at all the successes his coworkers were having. Still, he wasn’t one to back down from a challenge, especially one assigned to him by his prior mentor. “You can jump twice as high as them,” He continued aloud, “You’re a beautiful sight. Don’t you want to show off?” He insisted. 

Haruka realized he wasn’t getting another fish and decided to sink back into the water and dive away, doing his circles. 

“You just want to swim…” Rei answered his own question, smiling softly at the cetacean. He rested a hand on his face, leaning it against his drawn up knees as he watched the other simply move about gracefully through the water. It was a soothing site to behold and made him wish he was a better swimmer.

 Muffled music brought him out of his reverie and he glanced up to see the killer whale show starting next door. He stood up, glancing past the tall wall separating the two exhibits. He strained to see Nagisa on the stage and finally just gave up. He’d seen the show countless times before anyhow. He didn’t know why he was being so curious about it. Nor why he was drawn to find his friend when he had only just seen him.

Haruka tilted his head at Blue, who seemed to be searching for something over the wall. Haruka had never really paid the structure any attention but a sudden curiosity overwhelmed him. He was so bored. He swam deep down into his tank before shooting upwards in a simple jump, glancing over the wall easily. 

His blue eyes widened at the sight of three orcas swimming around the large show tank and splashing the crowd. Orcas. Other orcas. He felt his heart clench as he instinctively looked for Makoto. He didn’t know whether to be disappointed or relieved when he confirmed he was not enclosed in there. 

He dived back down into the water and swam around agitatedly. The site of killer whales, after so long in isolation, brought a sudden onslaught of intense regret, fear, depression and utter loneliness. So consumed in his thoughts, it took him a moment to notice that Rei was offering him a mackerel for his jump. He took it, nibbling at the morsel as his heart raced.

He felt so terribly alone.

He was even missing the stupid pod now. 

He jumped back into the air to look over the fence, judging the distance to the tank. There was flat ground on both sides of the wall that separated his tank from that of the orcas. Even with a powerful spring it was too risky a jump to attempt. And what would it accomplish? He wasn’t a killer whale, and most pods weren’t as welcoming to dolphins than Makoto’s family. They would probably attack and eat him

It scared him that that fact only encouraged him to try. He buried the thought away. 

He splashed back into his tank and took the proffered fish again. Thinking deeply over his circumstances that he’d been ignoring in an effort of denial. He wanted to go home, he wanted to swim in the ocean beside Makoto again. But it wasn’t going to happen.

As such, swimming in mindless circles for the rest of his life did not seem appealing. He glanced over at Blue, who made an upward hand motion. Maybe…Maybe he would play along. He jumped up, receiving a smile and a fish for his trouble.

If anything it would be a welcomed distraction.

* * *

“R-Rin, can’t we go another way!” Makoto hissed, curling back and away from the dark crevice. 

Rin gave him a look, “The fish went this way, so we’re going this way.” He answered with an exasperated tone, about to swim down into the blackness. He was held back though, as a strong arm grabbed at his shoulder and kept him still. Rin furrowed his brow at how hard it seemed to tremble. 

“Le-Let’s look for some other prey, please!” Makoto insisted, pulling at the other to come back. Rin shoved the hand off and turned around to look at his companion. 

“What the hell is your problem?” He asked, scrutinizing the other’s pale face. The orca looked away feeling embarrassed and began fidgeting with his hands.

It took a moment but he finally sighed, his shoulders drooping down in defeat, “I’m…afraid.” He mumbled, crossing his arms defensively. 

“You’re a killer whale what do you have to be afraid of—“

“ _I_   _know what I am, that makes no difference!”_ Makoto growled out in such focused anger that Rin moved back slightly in surprise. And yet, there was something in the tone that made the shark smirk inside. That pure fury sent a tingle down his spine. The orca seemed embarrassed of the outburst and muttered out an apology, trying to calm himself. “I’m…afraid of the darkness, of the unknown.” He continued after a moment.

The shark recovered himself from the weird sensation, never letting the orca see the brief change in his attitude. “How the hell did you last this long then? The ocean’s pretty fucking dark.” Rin spat out, unimpressed. 

“I had Haru.” Was the sincere, honest, instantaneous response.

Rin felt his stomach drop and his face flash with anger. 

“Well, you have me now!” He retorted, grabbing the other’s wrist roughly and pulling him into the darkness. Makoto flinched as he was dragged down, and before he could resist he was plunged into the pitch black sea. He whimpered and clung on to the shark, squeezing his eyes tightly. 

“R-Rin please go back, please go back.” He begged as a mantra as he felt them go deeper into his own personal hell. The shark felt himself growing angrier and angrier at the other’s fear and pleading. His tail lashed about, driving him further into the darkness until he finally just couldn’t take it and stopped.

Makoto thought they were turning back. He was wrong.

“Why am I not good enough!” Rin shouted, whirling around to face the orca. He could barely make out the outline of his terrified face in the darkness. Still, he could tell the others eyes were shut firmly. Despite being turned around Makoto still clung to him however he could, desperately.

“W-What are you talking about?!” The orca replied, starting to become hysterical. His whole form was shaking. His grip tightened, and he started to hyperventilate in fear of not only the ocean, but the shark keeping him hostage. 

“Why are you still scared with me here, huh?! A shark is better protection than a fucking dolphin!” 

“You’re not Haru!” 

Rin grabbed at the orcas arms and tore them off the grip they had on his body, “Get the fuck away from me!” He screeched, swimming back and distancing himself from the mammal. 

Makoto let out a shriek when he lost the other’s touch, opening his eyes to search him out. Although, it didn’t help much in the black waters. His arms stretched out but the shark made sure he was just out of reach. “Rin, p-please!”

“What’s so great about this stupid dolphin! He sounds like a puny, selfish shit who only cares about swimming in the ocean!” Rin continued, icily, sneering at the pathetic outstretched hand and expertly keeping away from it.

“Stop!” Makoto cried back, his movements becoming more frustrated and choppier. 

“He just wanted you and your family for protection!”

“That’s not true!”

“How the hell do you know that!” 

“R-Rin, I’m scared please!” Makoto begged, feeling disoriented and lost and terrified and more alone than he had ever felt in a long time. “R-Rin, I-I, Rin I need to breathe!” He gasped out, as animal instinct consumed him and he suddenly starting to swim in what he hopped was upwards.

The shark seemed to snap out of his anger at the desperate wheeze, swimming back over to the orca who latched onto him immediately. The redhead dragged him up as fast as he could take him, breaking the surface to hear the desperate gasp for air from the other. 

He continued to hold on closely to the other as Makoto took in several ragged breaths. He watched his muscled chest heave and the droplets slip down from his hair onto his face, down his nose to his parted lips. The shark swallowed, shifting the mammal slightly in his arms. 

“Got your breath?” He asked quietly, not meeting the other’s shadowed gaze. 

Makoto nodded weakly, about to answer verbally when he was blocked, by the others harsh lips as he kissed him roughly.


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which everything is hella awkward and Haru gets ready for showtime

Makoto’s eyes shot open, his entire body tensing as the shark invaded his mouth with a lustful hunger. 

_Rin was kissing him._

Rin’s hands clung to the orcas upper arms, fingernails digging tightly into the tanned skin. The killer whale’s heart beat erratically in his chest and he only panicked more when the shark tried to make the kiss deeper, tilting his head and pressing even closer in an almost desperate flurry of motion.

Makoto shoved Rin off of him, using all of his strength do so and easily succeeding in driving the surprised shark back. He covered his mouth in shock, staring at the other with wide, terrified green eyes. He was stock still.

Rin seemed to look just as terrified for his part, staring right back at the other with a sense of growing horror in his red tinted eyes.

The dark ocean rocked around them, and the space between them seemed miles apart. 

Makoto finally found the courage to speak, “R-Rin…Rin, I’m sorry!” And Rin expected Makoto to say a lot of things, to yell and curse him out mostly. But he had not expected an apology. And it infuriated him. He whirled away without a word and dove back down into the ocean, his mind only urging him to run the fuck away from the situation. 

The orca hesitated, his mind and heart still racing. He didn’t know what he had done wrong to elicit a kiss from the other. He…He didn’t like Rin that way. That he was sure of. But that didn’t mean he didn’t care about him, and was immune to his feelings at the moment. So with that thought he followed after his friend, watching as he agitatedly raced back into the cave they had found for Gou.

He supposed there wasn’t going to be any food tonight. 

He watched the shark slip inside and tried to follow suit, only to be reminded he didn’t quite fit. He sighed and floated at the entrance, debating whether to talk to him. He didn’t want to awaken Gou though, nor talk to her brother like this in front of her. So he stayed quiet, hovering silently and thinking. 

He debated going out and hunting something for them but decided against it. They had been eating well enough, and he didn’t want to get separated on accident. A part of him worried that Rin would cut their journey short and refuse to aid him further because of his actions. He prayed it wasn’t so. 

* * *

Haruka jumped high into the air, head bumping the little ball above the tank before arcing down and slipping back into the clear still water. He heard the annoying whistle and rolled his eyes before swimming over to Blue and getting his deserved fish. 

Blue gave him a smile and a head rub that Haruka could care less about, eyeing the bucket of fish beside him. It took a moment but he finally got the reward he actually wanted and ate it. He looked back over at his human for what to do next. 

Not that he was complying and being obedient or anything. He was just bored out of his mind and this gave him at least some sort of stimulation and kept him from thinking of Makoto and the wide open ocean. Blue raised his hand again and the dolphin dove down to jump up high once more. 

Rei blew the whistle, notifying that the correct move was given and waited for the dolphin to dive back down. He kneeled down as the animal swam in front of him expectingly, rubbing his head and praising him quietly. He cried out when a force barreled into him, almost knocking him into the pool. Two arms wrapped around his mid-section and a blond little head placed itself on his shoulder.

“Rei! You’re doing it!”

“Nagisa, get off me!” Rei pushed back, annoyed, only to have the other tighten his grip with a laugh. He shot the other a glare, turning his head only to find Nagisa doing the same. Their noses touched, they were that close. Rei felt his features heating up while the blond only seemed to be smiling brighter—

A splash of water hit them both out of their moment and back to the reality of a hungry dolphin. Haruka glared at them, raising his tail to splash them again in his impatience. Blue seemed to get the message, scrabbling to give the other a fish. Satisfied, Haruka let them be and swam a bit away. 

“How’d you finally get him to listen?” The blond asked, shaking the water from his hair before deciding to sit beside his coworker. He crossed his legs, his knee pressing against the other’s thigh. Rei hesitated but decided not to shift away. The blond would only follow him anyway. He pulled his glasses off and wiped the water droplets away with the corner of his shirt before pushing them back up the bridge of his nose. 

“I wish I knew.” He answered honestly, “It makes no logical sense. He suddenly jumped on his own and started listening to me.” The blue haired trainer recounted, looking over at the dolphin who had finished his snack and was back to swimming lazy circles. 

“I think he’s grown attached to you.” Nagisa grinned, nibbling at his bottom lip idly as he decided to continue, “I think he fell for your weird hair color and patience and love for beautiful things like himself!”

Rei gave him a look, raising an eyebrow, “I think he just wanted the mackerel.” He deadpanned. 

Nagisa’s smile softened, standing up and stretching, “Who says I was talking about the dolphin!” He sighed out, skipping off and out of the area. Rei furrowed his brows at the comment, whirling back to watch the shorter man disappear. 

Even though he was too late he still stuttered out, “N-Nagisa! What’s that suppose to mean?” He didn’t receive an answer, of course, and was left to mull the words over in his mind. His face was beginning to heat up at all the implications when he felt a nudge on his leg. He looked down to find the dolphin nosing his knee and looking up at him. 

He pet his head, and sighed out, “Haru, you have it so easy…You get to just swim around and play. Don’t have to think about weird relationships…”

* * *

Gou knew there was something wrong. She could feel it in the water, a thick miasma of tension between her brother and the orca. Something she knew had never been there before, but appeared so suddenly and volatile-y that it could not be shrugged off.

She wondered if something had happened last night. It was evident they hadn’t caught anything, perhaps they miscalculated and got into a little spat? But Gou couldn’t imagine Makoto causing or keeping an argument going for this long. Furthermore, the poor whale kept glancing at the shark with worried looks. He was only ever ignored. 

Gou frowned at it all, but kept silent for now, and held on to the brunet as they swam closer and closer to their destination. It was awkward and boring and she did not like it one bit. Her brother held a face of concentration but his gritted teeth and locked jaw showed how angry he truly was. She worried about her brother…did Makoto do something mean to him? She couldn’t imagine it…but…what if…

She couldn’t take it anymore. She tapped at Makoto’s shoulder, “What’s wrong with you two?” She asked bluntly, frowning at the brunet as she demanded an answer. Makoto hesitated, glancing desperately toward the male shark for some sort of help. Rin stopped his swimming. 

“Nothing’s wrong.” He snapped, “Everything’s just fine and dandy, right Makoto?” He made eye contact with the orca for the first time in hours. The brunet stared at him in utter incomprehension at the statement. Everything was most certainly  _not_  fine and dandy. 

“Rin…I—I’m so—“ Makoto tried again, quietly in some semblance of a murmur, only to have the shark lash out in a sudden movement. Makoto visibly flinched, fearing the worse, when instead it was only a desperate grab at his hand. The grip on it was firm and unrelenting, and soon the shark was dragging him onward. 

“I said everything was fine.” Rin repeated, squeezing the hand roughly and turning to face forward. The conversation ended and Makoto let himself be dragged through the sea, his mind stumbling around in confusion at how to approach the situation he had ended up in. Gou remained as confused as ever but let it go for now. It was clear Rin would tell her nothing in front of the mammal. She would definitely interrogate her brother at their next stop, alone. 

Rin kept a strong grip on the orca’s hand partly because he was angry but mostly because he was afraid he would swim away. He knew he had messed up. Fucked up really. And he was terrified the whale would leave him and his sister after the awful stunt he pulled. He tightened his grip when he realized that the only reason the whale probably did stick around was again, as always, for that stupid dolphin.

He didn’t know when or how or why this happened. All he knew was at some point during this journey his heart started to hurt. The killer whale was too damn nice, too damn sweet, too damn handsome, too damn  _perfect._  And it pissed him off to no end. Especially because he would never be able to partake in that niceness and sweetness because he was a shark and the killer whale was after a dolphin. 

The trio continued on like this for some time, until hunger soon overcame them and they began searching out a place to hide their charge. They finally found a suitable den and Rin helped his sister in and got her comfortable while Makoto went up for some air. 

The shark was about to leave and go find his hunting partner when he was held back by the soft yet firm grip of his sister. He turned to her with a questioning look, “I don’t know what happened, and you don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to.” She began, shooting him a glare when he went to interrupt her, silencing him preemptively, “But Makoto has only ever been nice to us, so will you two make up?”

“It’s not that simple, Gou.” Rin barked, crossing his arms defensively and sending a glance at the cave opening. Good, the mammal wasn’t back yet. The girl sighed at her brother’s behavior, resting her arms against the rocky floor. 

“It is though. Because that orca will forgive anyone in a heartbeat and you know it. He’s forgiven you before for worst things.” She added, giving him a look, “And he’s been patient with my situation all this time.”

“If he wasn’t I’d kill him.” Rin spat out immediately at the thought/

Gou seemed to smile sadly at that, drawing idle patterns on the surface beneath her. The statement reminded her of all the doubt she had been toying with and trying to deny to no avail,  “…Rin…if…” She paused, looking down and away from her elder brother, “If…there’s ever any real danger or emergency. Don’t hesitate to leave me behind ok.”

Rin stared at her in disbelief, “Are you crazy? I would never do—“

“I’m not starting an argument about this. I just wanted to make sure you knew…I wouldn’t be angry.” She continued more firmly, although her gaze remained firmly on the cave floor.

“Gou, stop talking like this.” Rin growled, giving her a stern look, “I’ll be back with food soon, you stay here and don’t do anything stupid!” 

She laughed lightly, “I wouldn’t.” Rin didn’t feel assured but slipped away anyway. He was too agitated to deal with his sister’s feelings of lack of value at the moment. They were absurd. He sighed tiredly, feeling all the more miserable over his circumstances. He paused when he realized the stupid orca wasn’t even waiting out here. 

A moment of panic coursed through him at the thought of the other leaving entirely, abandoning them for good. That is, until he decided to look up. Much to his relief the mammal was there, head out of water, most likely breathing…and taking his sweet time. Rin swam up without another thought, breaking the surface beside him.

Makoto didn’t look at him but heard his splash, “I can  _see_  it.” He whispered in awe. His green eyes stared off into the distance, where a seemingly insignificant speck of land dotted the horizon. Rin followed his gaze, seeing it for himself and frowned slightly. Their trek was almost over. The sight filled the orca with hope; it filled the shark with only bitter disappointment.

“We’ll reach it tomorrow. Let’s go find food.” Rin spoke out. He didn’t want to look at the end of their travels any longer. Also, he was quite hungry, and in light of his recent conversation with his little sister, did not want to stay out too long. He was ready to dive back in when an arm stopped him.  _Why did everyone keep trying to stop him today_. He glared at the whale to find him smiling his usual smile at him.

“Rin, I just wanted to tell you…Thank you so much for doing all this for me.” Makoto murmured honestly, bringing the shark into a hug that made the predator tense up uncomfortably. “And I’m still sorry…that…i don’t feel that way…” The mammal continued a bit lamely, pulling back. His smile looked more nervous, his eyebrows quirked up, and he searched the others face for forgiveness.  

Rin felt embarrassed and red-faced and all around pretty shitty. “You’re shitty at rejecting someone.” He informed bluntly, peeling the hands that were on his shoulders away with a shrug. 

“I’m sorry.” Makoto repeated, his arms drooping at his sides in defeat. 

“Stop apologizing!” Rin snapped, and watched as the other went to apologize and then decided against it. Instead, he gave a sheepish apologetic smile instead. Which was just as bad. Rin rolled his eyes, “Just drop the whole thing ok? We’ll get your damn dolphin boy back. But first I seriously need to eat and so does Gou.”

Makoto gave a nod of agreement and followed the other down into the ocean waves, the tension seeming to dissipate as plans for today’s hunt were discussed.

* * *

“Come on Haru…” Rei encouraged, making wide gestures for the dolphin to move. He’d been so perfectly obedient and docile up until this point. Doing everything he asked of him. But now, now the dolphin was refusing to cooperate at all, pressing himself against the far side of his tank.

They were trying to do a practice show for the alterred dolphin performance, with Haru as the finale, but said dolphin refused to leave the safety of his tank. “The other dolphins aren’t in the show tank, Haru! Trust me! Just go!” The glasses wearing man pleaded, the other trainers giving him an annoyed look at how much time this was taking. This would never do in the real show.

Nagisa watched the ordeal with a pout before running along past Rei, grabbing a mackerel from the bucket behind him and sending it flying into the other tank. The reaction was immediate, with the dolphin racing toward the prey and grabbing it. Nagisa made a triumphant gesture and watched as Haru tensed, looked around and, after seeing the new tank really  was void of other life, relaxed. 

“Nagisa when did you get here?” Rei asked, staring at the short man who waved the question off. He merely shoved the other toward where the dolphin was now waiting.

“Just go, do your part! So that you all can squeeze one last big practice before your first show!” The blond brushed off, giving his back a firm comforting pat—although it seemed significantly lower than it probably should have been, much too close to his butt he deduced. Though the other  _was_  height challenged so perhaps…anyway—before he skipped back away from whence he came. Rei would never, _ever_ , understand his coworker.

Nevertheless, he followed the somewhat command and quickly ran over to have Haru do his tricks. He would swim out at the end of the show, jump up high into the sky, higher than any of the previous dolphins and wave his tail at the crowd. After, three more flips of varying height and direction would occur. His entire routine lasted no more than five minutes, and Rei was focused on making them count precisely. 

Haruka didn’t really care to know why they had him move into this tank, only glad that it was vacant. He had feared he would run into the pod and be forced into some sort of unwanted social interaction. He followed Blue’s commands easily enough, enjoying his rewards before being directed to finally swim back into his home.

Rei let out a sigh of relief, ignoring the mumbles of his coworkers and watching Haru carefully to make sure he was fine. He heard the signal as the other trainers started the practice show one more time. The entire spectacle was about a half hour, and Haru appeared twenty five minutes in so he occupied himself by watching the dolphin swim gracefully. 

When he did summon him, Haru seemed to have learned and entered the tank with little hesitation. Rei felt his entire body relax at that. The show was going to go just fine now. He was sure of it.


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which someone is left terribly alone.

“So…we’re here.” Rin announced, breaching alongside Makoto and his sister up at the surface of the ocean. They were a few meters from the coastline. It was populated by a decent amount of people, which made the trio keep low to the water to avoid being noticed. “Now what?”

Makoto smiled sheepishly, “I…I don’t know.” He replied honestly. He never really thought it out this far. He never really thought he would make it all the way out here. “Where is the park you mentioned?” He asked after a moment.

Rin pointed to the left, where a large fence jutted into the beach slightly but not close enough to the water’s edge to be touched by any tides. “In there.” He notified, frowning. It would be impossible to get in. This whole plan was stupid. Why did he come. Why did he drag his sister all the way out here. Why did he ever stick with this.

He looked over at Makoto’s pensive handsome face and felt the questions didn’t matter at all. He felt dumb for thinking that though. He felt dumb that his heart sped up at the sight. Especially after everything that had happened. Still, he had come this far, he wasn’t just going to give up on the dumb whale now. 

“Maybe we should ask the locals if they’ve seen a dolphin?” Gou offered, perched upon the orca’s back and leaning down to speak to both boys. The trio ducked down into the ocean and looked around. There was nothing but void and the distant splashing of human feet. The ocean felt so empty.

“Why would anything come near two sharks and a killer whale.” Rin sighed out, rolling his eyes that they even gave the thought a chance. Gou gave a shrug, scratching her head, embarrassed at her own suggestion. Makoto waved it off, smile never leaving his face.

“Let’s find a cave and catch some lunch, ok? I’ll figure something out…eventually.” The orca continued, swimming away from the shore and leaving the sharks confused. Rin had been positive that the whale would only become more frantic and persistent about his impossible mission once they reached the shore. And yet…he seemed calm and passive. Had he realized the huge fault in his plan? Had he given up on the dolphin? His heart beat a little faster at the thought but he shook it away and simply followed. 

Yet, when Rin caught up to him and looked over at his companion face, he could see some sort of resolve in the focused green eyes. As if he’d already decided something. The shark was oblivious to what that was though and didn’t like the feeling of unease it gave him. 

They found a cave easily enough, not too far from the shore but enough so that the humans wouldn’t swim anywhere near it. It’s proximity to the surface of the sea made the male shark slightly nervous. But his fears were quelled when he realized how deep it was as he helped his sister to the very back of the cave. 

“Bring back something good, ok!” She called, watching him go. He gave her a smile. He wasn’t sure exactly why he did so, it just felt right. Gou grinned from ear to ear. It was a rare treat to get a smile out of the grump that was her brother. She felt a sort of victorious warmth spread through her at the sight. 

Rin swam out of the cave and looked around for the orca. Instinctively, he glanced upwards and found him with his head poking out of the water. He quickly joined him…and was ignored. Makoto seemed focused on the coast, a serious expression on his face that didn’t match his personality. It bothered Rin, but he decided to make no comment and, instead, nudged the mammal quietly with one of his arms. 

Green eyes flashed toward him and the pleasant smile resurfaced. “Ready?” He asked, to which the shark flashed a sharp toothy grin. The pair dove down into the blue water and scanned for possible prey. It was clear they would have to move further away from the coast, away from the human disruption which seemed to have scared most of the fish away, in order to find anything decent. 

* * *

Haruka swam idly about, glancing every so often at Blue for his cue. He was never very good at keeping his own time so he could never simply assume when to go out into the show tank. It didn’t really matter though. 

Shows had become quite normal for the dolphin. It gave him something to do, although, the performance was getting quite old now. And becoming just as boring as swimming those dull circles. It couldn’t be helped, however. 

The first time he’d been instructed into the show pool during a live performance he had frozen up. He hadn’t expected the noise nor the huge crowd of humans before him. Noisy humans. He remembered he’d immediately ducked to go back into his own tank, only to find the wall already down. He had contemplated jumping into his home like before but saw Blue urging him onwards with his hand signals. 

He had decided to go along and pretend the cacophony of humans wasn’t there. That it was only him, Blue, and the water. And soon enough he was back in his own tank, alone and in blissful quiet. 

The noise no longer shocked him and neither did the sight. He performed his part with practiced ease, dazzling the crowd with his amazing height and beautiful acrobatics. He didn’t really care about the praise though. He didn’t care that he had become some famed dolphin in the park. He didn’t care that he had won the hearts of children, that his name and face had been plastered on anything that could feasibly sell. He simply enjoyed swimming and diving. 

And the mackerel too, he supposed. 

* * *

Once they had returned with a sizable portion, Rin entered the cave to find his sister fidgeting in the dark, back corner. He dumped her portion of the  meal before her and gave her a quizzical look. She reddened slightly. It made him all the more confused.

“Is something wrong?” He asked bluntly, giving her a steady stare. She seemed perfectly fine when he had had left her only a few hours ago. She laughed at the remark, waving him off with an agitated hand.

“I’m fine!” She stated emphatically, before changing the subject, “Anyway, what…exactly…is the plan now?” She asked, scratching her neck awkwardly.

Rin gave an honest shrug, “I mean, I think he’s going to have to realize how pointless this all was. We’ll stay here until then. Are you ok in this cave? We can find another.”

“No! This is a great cave!” The lady replied instantly, waving her arms about in an exaggerated yet firm manner. Rin furrowed his brows at the odd reaction, becoming more and more suspicious. He lashed his tail behind him. 

“Gou, what’s wrong.” This time he didn’t ask. He demanded. There was something terribly off about his sister and he wanted to know why.

The girl let out a sigh, looking down and away, “Look, it’s nothing really! And it’s especially nothing to worry about! In fact, I’m quite happy!” She added after a thought, looking up and smiling that old smile Rin had not seen since the incident. It made his own lips twitch up in turn, but he forced them back down to a neutral line. She was being vague and it was obvious she was trying to hide something. His sister was never a good liar. 

Rin realized he wasn’t going to get anything out of her anytime soon and decided, only because he had not seen his sister smile so truly in so very long, to drop the subject.

Gou let out a nervous giggle,“I think…I think everything’s going to be just fine.” 

And everything truly was. The trio remained by the coast for a few days, simply living a sedentary life and relaxing their tired fins. Gou seemed to shine brighter every day, and Rin, himself, seemed to feed off her change in mood in turn. The only one who seemed to sully the vibe, although never intentionally, if the fake smile plastered to his face had anything to say, was Makoto. He grew quieter every day, more thoughtful, more distant. No one commented on it.

Sometimes, Rin felt as though Gou didn’t even notice the drastic change in their mammalian friend. Was he just going crazy? The worry pecked at him every now and then until the weird behavior finally got to him at the end of one fateful hunt. 

“I don’t think this is enough for all three of us.” Rin stated, holding onto their kill of a couple fish. Makoto waved him off as they started back for the cave. “Why stop now, anyway?” The shark continued, confusion swirling within him. Usually, they would keep hunting until they were too tired or had caught a big enough meal. Now, Makoto was forcing them to head back even before the sun began to set.

“What is up with you?” Rin demanded as they reached the cave, unnerved by the uncharacteristic silence from his chatty friend. He couldn’t believe he was missing the others incessant talk. He stopped and stared at the other, “You’re not acting like yourself at all!” He was sick of it. 

“I’m sorry.” Makoto mumbled quietly, but gave no other answer. He didn’t match the shark’s intense gaze. Nevertheless, Rin didn’t take his eyes off him as he called for Gou at the mouth of the cave and set the kill down. The orca seemed a bit bothered by that fact, frowning slightly.

“Don’t just say sorry!” Rin growled out, angry, his tail lashing impatiently. “Just explain!” He continued, crossing his arms.

“I’m so sorry, Rin.” Makoto repeated in a murmur, only this time, it was with a tone of extreme sincerity that made the shark freeze and really look at the other. The killer whale was tense, his eyes seemed distant and unfocused. 

“What are you talkin-“ The predator couldn’t finish his sentence as he was wrapped in a tight desperate hug. He tensed up, unsure how to react and feeling his face heating up as the orca pressed his face into his shoulder. He was squeezed harder.

“I’m sorry for everything.” was whispered into his tingling skin and it made the shark’s breath hitch and eyes widen in shock. “Tell Gou I said goodbye, ok?” The orca continued before pulling away completely, giving one last apologetic smile before turning tail and swimming off. 

Gou poked her head out to see the orca go. She was wide eyed, shocked at how early the pair had returned to their home. She had not been expecting them so soon, and she began to fidget with her hands. However, the sudden drop in atmosphere made her cast away her own personal worries. 

Rin watched the mammal leave, paralyzed with confusion and shock until his sister’s voice broke him from his reverie. “Rin?, what’s going on? Where’s Makoto rushing off to?” She questioned, reminding him of her existence. The male shark slowly turned to face his sister.

“He said goodbye.” He murmured, making the young girl’s eyes widen further, and soon they were matching his very own. They shared a look. Rin felt his heart begin to beat erratically, “He said goodbye!” He repeated, the shout leaving a bitter taste in his mouth and before he could even process anything properly he was swimming after the large mammal. 

“Rin! Wait!” He heard his sister cry but he refused to turn around, only shouting back, “I have to stop him!” He raced to catch up to him, his tail propelling him forth in a desperate spring. There was no way the orca could just  _leave_  like that! Not after everything…Not after…making it feel like he belonged with them. This wasn’t fair! He gritted his sharp teeth, where the hell would the orca  _even go?_

He let out a gasp as he realized the answer to his own question, speeding up his swimming as much as he could.  _He wouldn’t._  The shark insisted in his own mind, even as the dark reality was making itself clearer and clearer the more time passed. As the coastline became extremely close and the orca was not changing his path at all, if anything he was speeding up. 

“MAKOTO DON’T!” Rin screamed desperately as the orca slammed himself into the coast and out of the water. The humans loitering the beach let out panicked shrieks and started to run at the sudden sight of a killer whale beaching itself onto the sand. So deep only his tail lightly touched the water’s edge. 

Rin didn’t hesitate either as he swam up to the edge of the ocean and grabbed at the other’s tail in a desperate attempt to pull him back into the sea. The whale was much to heavy though but he, nevertheless, continued anyway. The screams grew in desperation and horror around them as the humans evacuated at the news that not only was an orca beached but  _there was a shark still trying to kill it_. 

* * *

“Rei! Rei I need your help right now!” Nagisa shouted, running into the dolphin exhibit in search of his man. The park was closing and many of their coworkers had already left. But he knew the glasses wearing man well enough to know he would still be around. Said man looked up from where he was watching Haru to stare at the panicking blond. 

Which was his first warning that there was something deeply wrong.  Nagisa never panicked. He only laughed and smiled and giggled. He quickly stood up and gave the other his full attention. Rei pushed his glasses up his nose, “What’s wrong? Is it the killer whales?” He asked seriously.

“Funny you should say that! There’s a killer whale beached on the ocean and if we don’t get there fast he’ll die. I’ve called the others but we need to get there  _now_. Grab a bucket!” And with that the shorter man sprinted out of the exhibit and out of the park. Rei gave Haru one last look before rushing right back after his coworker, nabbing a large bucket on the way.

Haruka blinked at the frantic exchange and shrugged, slipping back into his water and enjoying his lazy circles, oblivious to their language and worries and perfectly content with that fact.

* * *

Rin ducked into the waves again to breathe before surfacing and grabbing at the orca. He tried to splash some water onto his fast drying friend with his own tail. “Makoto! What the fuck are you doing! You’ll die!” He shouted, angry and anxious and desperate. Makoto thrashed his black and white tail to try to get rid of the sharks grip, but not rough enough to actually hurt him.

“Let me go, Rin!” He snapped, clawing at the sand to try to pull himself further out of the sea. “I’m getting into that park!”

“All this for a dumb ass dolphin? He might not even be in that park! Are you insane!?” Rin reasoned, clinging tightly to the tail and pulling, “You’ll die! For nothing!” He could feel tears prickling at the corners of his eyes. His friend was doomed and there was nothing he could do about it. He pushed the thoughts away, gritting his teeth.

“It wouldn’t be for nothing if it was for Haruka!”

Rin’s heart sank at the words. He really could never match up to the stupid cetacean. But that did not mean he would give up and allow the killer whale to ruin his own life. The shark clawed at the others tail, not caring if he made the other bleed as he kept his grip and wrenched back.

 It was then he saw the humans coming. 

He saw them shouting and pointing. There was a whole pack of them. Their eyes seemed to meet and he felt his whole body tremble. He had not been so close to humans since the incident. He froze up. 

“Rin, get back in the water.” Makoto ordered in a controlled hiss, looking over his shoulder to gaze at him for the first time since their parting embrace. Rin stared at him with wide, fearful eyes before flicking them back at the group of humans. The tears were beginning to spill over. The glint of a harpoon caught his eye and he tensed up even further, nails digging into the orca’s tail. “Rin, I said get back in the water!”

And before Rin could even react, Makoto used all his strength in his powerful tail to smash him back into the ocean and out of harms way. Satisfied in seeing his friend disappear into the waves, he looked back in front of him and rested his head on the sandy beach, feeling relieved and allowing himself to relax. Rin would be safe in the water.

That is, until he saw one of the humans barking orders at the one with the harpoon and pointing after the shark. He started to squirm in his spot, fearing the worse for his friend, but soon two humans from the back of the group came to his side. 

“There, there big guy we got you!” A blond, short human cooed, pointing his taller companion at the ocean. Makoto watched out of the corner of his eye as the taller blue haired man filled a bucket with seawater only to pour it all over his back. He let out a gasp. It felt so refreshing and nice. He had not realized how much he had dried out in the chaos of it all.

As the blue haired man continued the process, the blond circled him, seeming to investigate his entire being. He stopped by his tail, “He has deep lacerations on his tail fin, most like from that shark. It needs to be patched up or he wont be able to swim properly…. We can’t push him back into the ocean like this.” Nagisa thought aloud, turning to look over at the sea where the local fisherman had raced after the shark in a small boat.

“I’ve never seen a shark attack an orca so boldly…” He continued, turning his gaze back to the injured mammal, “To chase this big guy this far out of the ocean…It makes no sense! Rei, you’re smart tell me what’s going on!”

“You think I have any idea?” Rei questioned, still in shock of it all. “All I know is that shark is most likely extremely dangerous and should be dealt with immediately. This is a popular beach spot after all.” 

Nagisa nodded grimly, deciding to focus on the whale of a problem before him—pun intended he thought with a mental snicker. No he needed to be serious right now. They needed to keep the animal alive until the rest of the trainers arrived. He would let the local fishermen deal with the crazed shark. He kneeled down and rubbed the poor wounded animal’s head, giving him an encouraging smile, “You’re going to be just fine, big guy!” 

* * *

Rin was terrified, choked up with fear at the memory of losing his father and almost his sister to angry fishermen. He had watched as they speared his father right through the heart and brought his lifeless corpse into their boat never to be seen again. He had watched as they grabbed his little sister and finned her mercilessly, throwing her back into the ocean where she sank, helplessly, no matter how hard she struggled. He remembered them reaching for him immediately after and he remembered biting at them before wrestling away and swimming deep into the ocean after his sibling.

She had landed on a ledge, breathing ragged breathes as blood spilled from her back. Rin didn’t know what to do but to hold her tightly to him and keep watch for hours, fearful the blood would attract anyone. He couldn’t even mourn the loss of his father. He had felt so numb.

Even when it turned out, miraculously, that his sister survived, he had felt numb. He stopped truly smiling and only focused on keeping his sister alive another day with her new disability. It became a mantra for them. Just stay alive one more day. Just one more day. 

It was just him and her against the world for the longest time. And it was fine like that. 

He turned back to see the boat still chasing after him and he tried to speed up, making sure to stay away from where Gou was hiding. Hopefully the humans would give up and return to shore and he could get his sister out of this dangerous area. Like hell they were staying here a moment longer. As soon as he felt he had gained enough ground between the boat he sunk deep deep down and out of sight. 

He heard the boat motor stop and waited. Holding his breath and clutching at a rock as he strained to hear them leave. It felt like ages when they finally did. He breathed a sigh of relief, slowly ascending to peer over the blue water and make sure they were heading backwards. 

They were.

But they were heading for Gou’s cave. 

He felt his heart shatter even more as he saw her head sticking out from the water, searching him out, oblivious. He raced for her, he was exhausted but it did not stop him from swimming as fast as he could, more desperate than he had ever been before. He shouted for her to get down as the boat rocketed toward her and she turned to his voice, seeing the boat between them.

He saw her eyes widened as she ducked down into the ocean. For a moment he thought she was safe, but then he saw the fisherman throw their spear. He held his breath, continuing to lash his tail through the water, only to smell the scent of blood and see its red stain spreading through the ocean.

It was nauseating.

The harpoon was drawn back and then shoved again, and this time he heard his sister’s screams. He shouted for her in turn, surging forward only to find the humans trying to haul her body up. He couldn’t tell if she was alive and he pushed the thought away, even when he reached her he clung to some semblance of a hope. He took hold of the blade, not caring as it cut deep into his own hands and yanked it out of his baby sister.

He grabbed her sinking form, hugging it close and slipping into the cave, deep, deep within. He lay her down and looked her over to confirm what he had already feared when he had pressed her cold limp body to his chest. One stab wound straight through her heart. 

He felt the tears flow down his cheeks—many more than he had shed earlier—and buried his face into her long red hair that matched his own. He held her close to his chest, shuddering horribly. He couldn’t stop shaking. He felt so tiny, so helpless,  _so useless._

So alone.

“I’m sorry. I’m sorry. I’m so sorry, Gou.” He whispered desperately into her ear, “I never thought…I…” He faltered and just clutched her closer to his chest, alone in the cave filled only with his sorrows and nothing nor nobody else.


	9. Chapter 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which there are first meetings and reunions.

Rin stayed in that cave with his dead sister for days. He refused to leave her side, to move, to do anything but press himself against her and nuzzle her hair and fill his thoughts with intense regret. It was only until the hunger was too much that he realized he couldn’t keep doing this. 

He considered just dying beside his sister. But then he thought of Makoto and he took in a deep breath. He nudged her body deeper into the cave, moving around the rocks to give her some sort of cover in her makeshift watery grave. He whispered a quiet, empty goodbye and turned around, leaving the cave and entering the wide ocean.

He felt so numb.

Instead of hunting though, he was drawn toward the surface, slipping his head out and peering over at the sandy beach. His heart sank further at the sparsely populated bank. There was no beached mammal. 

He sank back into the ocean feeling all the more alone. Makoto was gone, whether dead or captured he would never know. It was best to just assume he was dead. Gou was dead. He hugged himself tightly. He felt his breath hitch and the tears fall down again. 

He felt so weak.

He dived deeper into the ocean for some morsel to feed on, gritting his teeth. He was a shark. He was suppose to be alone. Live alone, hunt alone. He had been spoiled. What was he thinking? Hanging out with an orca, doing fucking flips. He was a shark and thats what he would be. 

He growled and narrowed his eyes searching for prey in the dark depths of the sea. 

* * *

Makoto opened his eyes blearily, letting out a loud groan. He heard shouts around him and tried to lift his head to look around. There were humans surrounding him. He squinted his eyes at them in confusion. He was in an extremely small shallow pool. Practically beached but half submerged in water. He couldn’t move. He felt his heart race. He started to squirm.

“You’ve had a rough time.” Nagisa soothed, hosing him down lightly, “There, there.”

And the poor whale really had. They needed a helicopter to get him to the facility which had taken a long time to arrive. Furthermore, once in, they had to deal with his wounded tail as best they could. “Now that he’s awake do you think we could get him to swim into the tank?” He asked one of his co-trainers, who went to examine the tail once more before giving a slight nod. 

“Okie dokie!” He shouted, moving away from the killer whale to give the signal to raise the gate. Makoto still felt quite tired, but he could feel the humans nudging him and decided to just comply, slowly swimming forward toward the opening until he was let into a large tank. Or at least, larger than the space he had just been in. He noticed how much his tail stung as he waved it through the water.

He couldn’t remember anything for the life of him. He looked around in confusion. Half of the tank had clear walls that rose up high above the water’s edge, while the back end had a slide out. He dipped his head under and found the tank to be slightly deep, but not all that much. And after circling the tank a few times, he discovered it to be relatively small for his size. 

What was he doing here?

“Is it alright for him to stay in the show tank?” Rei asked, having weaseled his way into the killer whale area. Nagisa looked over at him in surprise. 

“We don’t have any other tank for him to stay in that’s big enough! I dont wanna put him with the other orcas with a bad tail. They can be quite vicious you know!” He explained, patting Rei on the shoulder. The glasses toting man frowned, watching the new mammal circle his tank slowly. 

“Now now, Rei! You’ve got your own dolphin to worry about, ok! Don’t worry about this one. I’ll handle him just fine!” Nagisa grinned up at him, “But its cute how worried you are!” he added, standing up on his tip toes to pinch the other’s cheek. Rei pulled back and rubbed at his reddening face and glared down at his co-worker, grumbling something. “Plus, look at the time! You gotta get going!” He reminded, turning Rei around forcibly. The other flicked his glasses up in annoyance. Nagisa grinned quite devilishly, “Good luck in your show!” The blond added, landing a nice smack on the other’s equally nice ass to send him on his way. 

Rei let out the most adorable squawk, glasses almost falling off his nose at the jump he made. He was bright red, fiddling them back in place, too embarrassed to even scold the other as he quickly scurried back to his own exhibit. Nagisa giggled for a moment, letting his slightly warm fingers dance in the air. 

Nagisa’s smile fell once he disappeared and he look over at the orca. They only had female orcas in the park, and usually they got them when they were quite young. This killer whale was clearly still a teenager, nevertheless that could make him much more aggressive. He frowned, crouching to watch the whale float for air, “I wonder how you’ll do…” Then again, he wasn’t even sure if it was right to keep him here. Maybe they would just send him back to sea as soon as his tail healed up. Although, he doubted the higher ups would ever let a money maker like him from their grasps. And Nagisa, himself, deep down, didn’t want the other to depart just yet. He was too curious.  

What was the orca even doing so close to shore? And all by himself, nevertheless?

Makoto ignored the blond human staring at him, trying to figure out his muddled memories. He remembered his pod, he remembered swimming in the ocean and then… Why was it all so fuzzy to him? He couldn’t quite understand. Something important gnawed at his mind painfully and made him worry. How had he gotten here?

Muffled music began to play and he lifted his head, looking around for the source. Past his tank was a large wall and past  _that_  he could see the top of a stadium where speakers were blasting peppy music and humans were chattering. He was about to look away when a dolphin came into view, spinning high in the air. 

Dolphins.

_Haruka_.

And everything came back to him. The fishermen, the journey, the beaching, Gou, Rin.  _Rin._ Makoto hoped he was ok and had made it back into the ocean unscathed, that he and Gou had safely swum away. He felt awful for dragging them into all this. But he needed to get captured, he needed to know if Haruka was alive and was here. Or if everything was for naught. 

He looked back at the show and watched with fascination every time a dolphin jump. There were at least four, he managed to realize, doing flips high enough for him to see. None of them were Haruka. He knew Haruka could jump much higher than them. He knew he would be able to see him if he was there. 

But he didn’t see him. And the music was starting to fade. And the flips became less frequent. And the show seemed to be ending. Then there was silence and nothing.

What if Haruka  _wasn’t_  here? What if he had just trapped himself  _willingly_  forever in this tiny bathtub? What if he never saw his mother or father or Ran or Ren again? What if he never saw Gou nor Rin again either? 

The realization shattered him, and he quickly looked away from the scene, ducking down to the bottom of the tank in misery. Had he really forsaken everything for nothing? The thought was too much for him to bear and he quickly huddled himself up and tried to forget the world around him. 

* * *

Something in Rin changed over the next few days. He stopped caring about anything. He was angry always. And always alone. Bitterness consumed him and he lashed about the waters, his tail cutting its way through its murky depths as he hunted continuously.

He did not leave the coast. Instead, he made the decision to stay with a heart filled with cruel intent. 

Humans had destroyed everything he ever loved, and he would make it his life’s work to repay them for their trouble. He would terrorize their beach. He would strike fear in their hearts, and dodge all of their attacks. 

He wasn’t afraid of them.

He wasn’t afraid of anything.

He was certainly not afraid to die.

There was nothing left for him on this mortal plane, but there was no way he would go out with a whimper. He would leave an impression, a blood soaked mark on this terrible strip of land and this terrible species. They would pay for what they did to his father, his sister…and Makoto. 

It was with that in mind he made the shallow waters his new home. He made his presence known, swimming close to the surface and diving near unsuspecting swimmers. Their shrieks of terror made him smirk, and although he never  _killed_  anyone, he did partake in the occasional wounding bite of a leg or two. 

It was with a certain sense of smugness that he saw the weeks go by and less swimmers return, and more angry fishermen swarming to get him. He became quite skilled at evading them, and the number of fishers after him began to decrease every day. 

Now only the crazy few dared bother him in his territory. 

But they would never win. He had honed his skills and was the top of the top. He would survive, easily.

And yet, Rin was always,  _always_  infinitely sad and no amount of blood could fix his ruined heart. 

He swam about the shallow ocean, one clear morning, enjoying the silence and the lack of humans on the beach with a triumphant smirk. He prowled about in search of food, his sharp teeth glittering in the water as he slashed about. 

He found a school of fish in the distance and slowed his movements, beginning to stalk his prey carefully. It was easy enough. He’d gotten better at hunting over the past few weeks, and returning to solitary stalking was instinctively easy. However, he did miss the strategizing, the conversations…the companionship… He missed the fucking orca so much. He missed his sister even more.

“Hello there, Mr. Shark!” 

Rin whirled around at the sound, the sudden movement making the fish he had been following quickly disperse. He growled, searching out the creature that had ruined his damn hunt. 

The creature came to him first, seeming to pop from no where and swim before him, waving a friendly hand. “Hello!” He greeted once more, giving a pleasant happy smile. He had gray blue hair, brilliant blue eyes and the palest skin he had ever seen. He was shorter than him, with a white and black striped tail that swished behind him idly. 

Rin barred his teeth, letting out a low animalistic snarl, lunging for the fish that dared disturb his meal. The smaller fish’s eyes widened and he swam back, flinching. “Wait! Wait! Wait!” He cried, his hands shooting out protectively as he began to cower, “I’m a pilot fish! A friend! I noticed you were alone! And well I…I’m alone now too! So I thought, uh…” He peered around his hands a moment, to find…the shark was swimming away.

Rin had never been a fan of eating food that was trying to talk to him. It didn’t sit well in his gut. Not that he was soft or anything, it just didn’t taste as good. But he also could care less about what the pilot fish had to say and decided to just fuck it and leave. He wanted dinner god damn it. 

Yet, as he glanced behind him, he found the fish to be quite persistent as it continued to follow him. He gritted his teeth and tried to ignore him, speeding up his strokes…only to find him swimming up to his side and smiling up at him brightly. It infuriated the other. He stopped in his tracks. 

“Ok, what the fuck do you want?!” He finally demanded, glaring down at the fish. 

The boy shrank back slightly, fidgeting with his hands, “I’m Aichirou Nitori and umm I was wondering if I could hang out with you for a bit? Please? You know symbiotic relationships and all that!” The fish trailed off into an awkward laugh as the shark continued to glare at him. 

“I swim alone.” Was the curt, bit out response, “And i’d suggest you do the same before I change my mind about letting you go.” He added, turning away. 

“But-But Mr. Shark! Pl-Please! I can help you! It’s dangerous to go al-alone!” The striped fish insisted persistently, charging back to the taller boy’s side. “The humans are angry here! They’re adamant about keeping us out!” He tried to inform.

“Yeah, I know.” Rin snorted, not sending the annoying a parasite a second glance, “I’m the one harassing them.”

The fish seemed to stop, “You……” And he seemed to falter. The sudden silence made Rin stop in his swimming and look behind him. The fish’s eyes were shadowed by his bangs and he looked to be trembling. “Wh-Why?!” He suddenly shouted in a loud voice that did not fit his small body. It took Rin aback. “Why-Why would you make them angry?”

“Because humans took everything I had.” Rin snapped in a tone dripping with venom and bitterness, his face contorting into an angry sneer. He didn’t need to explain himself to him, to anyone. He was about to swim away and end this nonsense. 

“Well, you’re not the only one!” The fish remarked, getting a bit more confident, “An-And now you’re just making it worse for the rest of us!”

“I have nothing to lose.” Rin growled, somehow still sucked into the damn exchange of words. 

“Well, neither do I!”

“Then why do you care?” He asked, wondering why he had even stopped swimming. He was getting soft again. 

The boy seemed to falter, “Because…I want to live…” 

Rin turned away, “Then live.”

“I dont want to live alone…” Was the quiet mumbled response, “I dont think I  _can_.”

Rin let out an angry sigh, “Look, kid. I’ve got my own problems. I’m done babysitting fish!”

“I just want to help another shark again!”

“Find another one!”

“No one dares come here anymore…”

“Just leave me the fuck alone.”

“Mr. Shark, with all do respect, I think you’re just as lonely as me!”

“Don’t fucking talk to me.”

But with every rebuttal the shark gave, the fish seemed to grow more confident in his position. Until finally the shark simply decided to ignore him entirely. Unfortunately, the striped boy took this is an invitation to talk—about anything and everything. It reminded Rin too much of a certain talkative mammal. It made him angry and sad.

But also nostalgic and his heart hurt and a part of him really did want to accept the little vulnerable fish into his company if only to stop the torturous isolation he’d fallen into. Yet, he didn’t want to get hurt again by letting another person in. 

The fish seemed oblivious to his inner turmoil and continued to chatter ceaselessly.

Rin was still very hungry, “Be quiet alright I’m trying to hunt.” He growled lowly, swishing his tail faster through the water.

The fish seemed to quiet at that, and his smile grew, as he sped his own swimming to match his new companion’s. “Of course, Mr. Shark.” He whispered. 

Rin felt his eye twitch, “Dont call me that. It’s Rin.”

“Okie dokie, Mr. Rin!” 

Rin felt as though his eye would never stop twitching. 

* * *

Nagisa frowned at the slow moving killer whale in the tank. He could tell the large creature was not doing well at all. His tail didn’t look nearly as damaged as the mammal’s mood and behavior seemed to suggest. Maybe he was lonely. Although, no one had seen another killer whale by the coast, and it was assumed he was a rogue.  

“What are we going to do with you?” He mumbled, crouching close to the water, but not too close. He was very cautious of the beast, not yet used to the other’s mannerisms. Killer whales could be—no  _are_ —vicious. “And you still need a name.” He continued aloud, tapping at his chin in thought. 

He was disturbed by the sudden flare of music behind him, and looked up to see that the dolphin show was starting up again. He stood up but couldn’t see over the fence. He had seen it a thousand times before, hell, he had been  _in_  it a thousand times before. And yet, now that Rei was the finale, he felt compelled to watch it every time. 

However, he didn’t particularly feel comfortable leaving the orca alone in this state, especially since he was the only person on duty today. He supposed he would just watch the next show. 

Makoto floated listlessly, filled with bitterness and regret. He could hear the now familiar music of the dolphin show beside him, but he did not bother looking over. He wanted to go home. He wanted his brother and sister. He wanted his father. He wanted his mom. He wanted Kou. He wanted Rin. He wanted Haru.

He would never have any of them ever again beside him. The thought was too much and he sank to the bottom of the pool, hugging his trembling form in some desperate form of comfort. It didn’t help much at all. He stayed below the water for quite some time, holding his breath and wondering if there was any point in taking another.

He did, of course, breaking the surface and taking in a big gulp of oxygen. But the thoughts still plagued him. The music was dying down. The show seemed to be ending. He started to feel sick to his stomach, and was about to sink down once more, when the music began to flare up again. He had never noticed that. He always thought the show ended when the music first did.  He looked over in its direction to see nothing. But the music was definitely building for something. And then he saw him.

Shooting up gracefully into the air, eyes closed and focused, reaching higher than any of the other cetaceans he had seen days earlier, was Haruka. And even though it had been weeks, hell even months, he was absolutely certain. The dark hair swaying in the air, the calm expression, the beautiful blue gray tail, the utter grace in form as he flipped in the air. It was Haru in the flesh,  _alive_. Makoto gasped and before he could even think let out the loud shout, “Haruka!”

The dolphin’s, closed, calm, serene blue eyes snapped open, searching for the voice of the sound before locking eyes on the orca. Makoto waved his arms widely, splashing the water around him in his frantic excitement. Blue eyes widened further, as he seemed to freeze in place in air. But then gravity took force and he dropped down out of Makoto’s sight. The orca raced over to the edge of his tank, getting as close he possibly could. There was a space between wear the splash guard walls ended and the slide out began, where it was simply the edge of the tank. He gripped the edge, hauling himself slightly up and out to shout, “Haru! Haruka!” 

Nagisa stared at the sudden movement, jumping to his feet as the sea mammal seemingly charged toward him. He backed away, slamming his back into the fence that separated the two exhibits and letting out a pained grunt. He quickly fixed his eyes back on the splashing mammal. His behavior was erratic and he crying out. He furrowed his brow at the sight. 

Haruka ignored Blue’s next command, ignored all of his surroundings for that matter, diving back down and jumping straight up to peer over the fence and confirm what must have been an illusion, “Makoto? Makoto!” He called, finding the other waving at him frantically from the edge of his own tank. Brown hair, green eyes, strong arms, black and white tail…It had to be him. It had to be. 

The dolphin’s heart seemed to stop at the sight and he quickly dove back down. By now all the trainers were trying to get his attention back on the show but there really was no point in that. He could care less. Nothing mattered anymore in the entire world except lacing his fingers between Makoto’s own. To be home again. He swam to one end of the tank before barreling towards the opposite side in order to gain the needed momentum.

He didn’t hesitate or think twice about his decision. 

He jumped.


	10. Chapter 10

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which there is chaos and interrogations

Haruka jumped, arcing over the tall fence and heading straight for the orca tank. Makotos eye’s widened fearfully, wondering if his best friend would make such a dangerous jump. What was he thinking?! He quickly swam backwards to give the other room as Haruka  _just_  made the tank, scraping his chest and tail painfully against the cement edge. 

The audience soon descended into screams and shouts and chaos. The trainers rushed out of the dolphin area, flooding into the orca pen because  _killer whales eat dolphins_. Nagisa hurried over to try to get a sense of the situation, seeing the water around the two dolphins become clouded with blood. He turned around and started calling for a net and food to try to trick the larger cetacean to swim away from his new prey. 

Below the surface of the water, Haruka attached himself to his long lost friend, clinging to him tightly. Makoto was in a state of shock, not knowing how to react. Being suddenly reunited with the person he’d swum miles for… And having the normally reclusive dolphin clinging to him so desperately… It was all too surreal. He blinked and felt the other touching his face and turning his head to look at him, those blue eyes wide and searching. It was only then he realized the other was speaking—or maybe a better word would be chanting—his name.

“Makoto. Makoto! Makoto, you’re here right? This is you right? Makoto say something!” Haruka pleaded, shaking the orca slightly, worried by the other’s dazed expression. It had been so long, too long, had he forgotten what his best friend looked like? Was he mistaken? Was this just a dream?

The crack in the smaller boy’s voice broke the killer whale’s heart, and the brunet soon took the other’s hands from his face and held them tightly in his own. “Yes it’s me, Haru. It’s me. Everything’s fine.”

And the relief that rippled through the dolphin’s expression only made him feel all the worse. Just what had he endured in this prison? He was about to continue his soothing when he saw a net descend around them. Blue eyes caught sight of it too.

Haruka panicked, pressing closer to the whale in sudden fear of being separated once more. He wrapped his arms tightly around the other’s neck, burrowing his face into the crook of his shoulder and squeezing his eyes shut in an effort to block out reality. He was in a state of shock; he just needed more time to accept the fact that Makoto was here. 

The orca held him just as close, but tried to think of some sort of plan or action. He backed into the wall, away from the nets instinctively. It was only then he realized he had backed them into a corner. They were trapped. Makoto’s tail lashed out in frustration. 

He rose to the surface for air and glared at the surrounding human crowd, tugging the dolphin closer toward him protectively. There was no way he would let them be separated now. Haruka made no move to pull away.  

There were murmurs and tense silence among the humans at the scene. Nagisa peered at the situation closely and curiously. There was blood in the pool, and yet the dolphin seemed relatively unharmed. Furthermore said cetacean did not make any movement to get away from the predator. 

“Everyone stop!” He shouted, stepping closer to the two mammals and crouching. The orca backed away slightly, bringing the dolphin with him. The trainers paused obediently in their frantic motions, looking over at the blond in confusion. He paid them no mind, “I don’t think he’s hurting him. Let’s just watch for a second.”

Makoto remained tense, even as the humans seemed to stop all action. He was on guard and for the first time ever he felt like a killer whale willing to kill for his family, his loved one, if he needed to. The anger coursing through his veins surprised him, and somewhat scared him, but he kept those thoughts at bay. 

Haruka squirmed as he caught sight of the familiar human face and pulled away from the orca’s embrace. Makoto let him go with a bit of hesitation, trusting the look the dolphin sent him. Haruka swam a distance away, made a lazy circle before going over to where Yellow was watching him oh so carefully. He splashed him in annoyance, as if to say, leave me alone and let me be. 

Nagisa shouted in surprise, getting thoroughly soaked. There was a tense silence among the trainers until the short man’s boisterous laughter put everyone back at ease. He weaved some fingers through his wet hair, letting the droplets scatter about his person. When he blinked his eyes open again, having squeezed them shut at the onslaught of liquid, he found the dolphin swimming back to the patiently waiting orca. And even, at least from his perspective, nuzzle into his side. 

“Nagisa…” Rei was the one to break the silence after the laugh faded off, worry shining in his eyes as he came forward. “What should we do?”

“Well, I think Haru wants to stay there so I say let him be!” He smiled, with a shrug, standing up and shaking about. It was something that simply came to him, with the spray of the water. He had never seen Haru so relaxed than in that moment. There was a certain spring in his movements, and the way he insisted on being near the predator soothed the worry in his mind. Furthermore, the fact the orca was equally calm, and never chased after the intruder, but merely allowed it into his space… He could tell Haru was safe. He just knew it. 

“You…You can’t be serious!” Rei reasoned, looking over to the dolphin with concern, “That orca could turn at any second! He could kill him!”

“Then why hasn’t he already?” Nagisa probed, “I mean, both of them are pretty weird. I say let them be weird together.” 

Rei frowned, glaring at the other with such intensity that it made Nagisa’s heart sink. Nevertheless, he held firm in his decision, ordering the other trainers to get the net out and return to their posts. They complied, moving about and slowly dispersing from the area back to their jobs. The dolphin trainers regressed to their own area, murmuring amongst themselves about having to change the show once more, or at the very least, put it on hold. 

Rei remained. 

“Rei, get back to the dolphin area.” Nagisa ordered softly, feeling a bit guilt for snapping at the other earlier.

Rei didn’t look up at him, but kept his eyes on the two cetaceans floating in the pool. “Haru is my responsibility. I’m staying here and watching him.”

Nagisa frowned, “Rei, I can handle Haru just fine, go back to your area.” He continued.

Rei didn’t answer him but pushed his way past him to sit by the edge of the pool near his charge and his would be killer. 

“Rei, you’re not qualified to be so close to orcas. It’s dangerous!” The blond pressed, pouting further and scrunching his eyebrows together. It worried him how close the other was to the killer whale. Rei was not the best swimmer. He should not be that close. He bit his lip.

“And yet, you let Haru stay even if he’s that dangerous.” Rei snarled bitterly, not turning around from his vigil. He would sit and watch and make sure the dolphin was ok. 

Nagisa let out a sigh, thinking a moment before finally settling down beside the other trainer. Rei didn’t turn to look at him, but moved so they were a few inches apart. The blond figured not to press him for once, deciding to sit in silence with the other, keeping his own vigil over the blue haired man. 

* * *

Rin felt his hands clench into tight fists as the damn fish would  _not_  stop talking. He really was too nice. Even though he was trying to be a lot more colder, he’d still managed to have another companion weasel into his life. But it was a fucking useless fish rather than an apex predator. 

Nitori remained oblivious, swimming perkily beside his protecter, yammering about this and that easily enough. Neither were paying attention to where they were going. Nitori was too busy chattering, Rin was too busy trying to ignore him.

As such, it seemed Rin’s fins subconsciously carried him to a certain cave he had made a point not to go anywhere near. He froze up when he realized, stopping dead still at its foreboding mouth. Nitori stopped too. Rin felt the bitter taste of blood in his mouth, smelled the phantom stench and heard his sister’s screams ringing in his ears. 

He shut his eyes closed, drawing back as if he had been burned. Nitori ventured toward the cave, placing a hand along its edge and running his pale dainty fingers across its rocky surface. 

“Get. The. Fuck. Away. From. There.” Rin hissed angrily, seething at the very sight of anybody daring to desecrate his sister’s tomb. 

“But Mr. Rin…” Nitori murmured, turning back around to reveal tears brimming at his eyes, “I don’t understand? Why are you upset about this evil cave, too?” 

Rin stared at him, as if his entire sense of self had been robbed before him, “Excuse me?” 

“I…” Nitori looked down, down into the darkness of the sea, “I lost my dearest friend here…and a new friend too! I lost everyone I had…right here…” He whispered, his breath hitching slightly at the memory. 

Rin’s eyes widened, “What?! That can’t be!  _I_  lost everything here, not you!”

“Eh?” Nitori looked up, confusion dancing in his red irritated eyes. And then something seemed to dawn on him as he looked closely at his new companion. At his long red hair, at his piercing eyes… He seemed to gasp, “Mr. Rin! Are you…Are you Miss Kou’s brother?” He asked suddenly, a light shining through his head. How could he not have seen that before?

The shark froze, it had felt like eons since he had heard his sister’s name. He rushed over to the pilot fish, gripping his shoulders tightly and staring deeply into his face. There noses were almost touching and he could feel Nitori tensing in fear and confusion at the sudden movement beneath his powerful grip. 

“Tell me every single thing you know about my sister right the fuck now!”

* * *

Nagisa and Rei fought all the time, but they could never  _really_  fight, and so although the tension in the air was so palpable at first, it waned away fairly quickly. Rei simply could not hold a grudge, and Nagisa was much too sweet to stay mad at. It was something the handsome man’s aura projected that kept him from ever getting angry at for long periods of time.

His shoulders slouched in defeat, and the blond took it as a sign to scooch a bit closer and let a smile slip his face once more. “I’m sorry if I sounded mean earlier.” He apologized, looking over sweetly at the blue haired man.

Rei waved a hand, “It’s alright. I apologize for not respecting you as a superior in front of others.” He added, “And…And I can see that getting Haru out of there will prove difficult. At least for now.” In their silent watch the dolphin and orca had never strayed from each other, not even for a second. And there was not a hint of aggression coming off either creature. It made Rei start to think…to think about everything he knew of Haru over the weeks of watching him…He began to recall any and all details he had filed away on his ward. 

Nagisa hummed lowly, watching the pair swim together, “Didn’t Haru hate company?” He asked aloud, that fact bothering him about the whole scenario. It just seemed so out of character for the dolphin. He also really wanted to see what all that blood was from, though it disappeared fairly quickly and neither creature seemed to be in pain…

“Yes. He seemed to prefer his solitude, which is quite uncharacteristic for the social nature of dolphins in the wild. He absolutely abhorred being near any of our other dolphins, although he was never violent toward them. He almost seemed terrified of their presence. The other dolphins, at first, were quite curious but they have since grown hostile toward him. As for the other trainers, he pays them no attention either. He only cares about food rewards. In addition—“

“Ok, ok! I know all that.” Nagisa complained, rubbing his temples at the info dump he had just received, “What I want to know is why the sudden change? Why an orca?”

Rei seemed to pause, his eyes becoming steelier and turning back to the pair swimming together in the pool. “That I am not certain…However, I do have a tentative hypothesis…” The blond blinked, giving his companion his full attention. He looked up at him, arms drawn back and leaning forward slightly in order to listen better. 

“Go on!”

“Well…” Rei flicked his glasses up, a little nervous and embarrassed about sharing the idea he had been rummaging through his head for only a short while. “Haru does not form bonds easily. It takes a lot of time and effort to get through to him. As such, I can not believe he would simply suicidally jump into another tank to make a new friend. I have noticed, however, that Haru has always seemed to be drawn to the killer whale tank. Whenever he did any jumps he always angled himself to face the exhibit. It was never really a problem. He never made any move to get into that tank either, even when our new friend appeared—what’s the orca’s name again?”

“Mako.”

“Mako?”

“It means ‘faithfulness’,” Nagisa explained, eyes shining bright, “And I mean, look at the guy! He refuses to leave lil Haru’s side, and keeps us away. Also we found him with that shark! And Mako is like a type of shark!” He grinned up at the blue haired man, “See, I can be good at name meanings too!”

Rei didn’t know why his heart sped up at the happy declaration, nor why he felt the now familiar tingling of heated blood rushing to his face, but he decided to ignore it. He looked away again, pretending to lift his glasses up and shielding his face with his hand in the process, “R-Right. Nice choice.”

“Thank you!” Came the sincere, happy response. 

It didn’t help Rei’s nerves; he cleared his throat, “A-Anyway, even when Mako appeared he showed no interest in the orcas. Yet, it wasn’t until Mako made that weird vocalization, do you remember? That was when Haru became interested and jumped.”

“So? Whats the point?” The blond probed, his head hurting from all the confusing talk. 

“I believe…that maybe they knew each other in the wild.” Rei fidgeted slightly. 

“But Haru was found far away, miles and miles! Mako ended up on the beach right here!” Nagisa insisted, his eyebrows furrowing at the very thought.

“Yes, but…Don’t you remember Haru’s strange circumstances?” The dolphin trainer continued, “He was being attacked by a  _shark_  and a  _killer whale_.”

Nagisa began to frown.

“And not only that,” The blue haired man continued, “But the fisherman stated the orca kept chase for quite a while before finally tiring out.”

The short blond looked back at the pair of cetaceans in the pool, swimming close together. “Maybe they did know each other…” He mumbled out in acceptance, nibbling at his lower lip, “Oh no, Rei!” He shouted, turning around and suddenly grabbing the taller man’s shirt, pulling him down to his shorter height. Rei almost stumbled, making a surprised sound at the movement, and their noses bumped. Rei flamed up; Nagisa didn’t miss a beat. 

“Nagisa, what are you—-“

“We separated them! They were best friends and we separated them! We’re terrible people! We should release them! Right now! Back into the ocean—“

“ _Nagisa!_ ” The blond quieted and Rei managed to pull away from his grip and straighten back up, “It’s not our decision to simply let them go. We need to figure out how to get Haru back in his tank for the shows…”

“No! He has to stay here with Mako!” Nagisa put his foot down on the issue.

“Haru is the most successful part of the dolphin show! The higher ups wont let us just lose all that money because of my own hypothesis of their perhaps friendship!”

“Then we’ll just make a better show starring the two of them!”

* * *

 

Oblivious to the plotting humans, the cetaceans continued their close reunion and embrace, never losing contact with the other for more than a second. 

“How did you get here?” Haruka breathed out, the danger of separation seeming to dissipate and yet, he refused to let go of the other. He still could not believe the orca was here, in the flesh, before him. Deep in the dark regresses of his mind he had been convinced he would never see the other again. And yet, here he was. “How?” He insisted, because although he was elated at his presence, the fact that Makoto was now also trapped here did not bade well in his heart.

His own hands danced around the other’s form, trying to map out his physical presence, trying to memorize every detail in fear of losing him again. They climbed all the way up to the brunette’s face, cupping it softly. 

Makoto let out a light laugh, trying to soothe the tension in the air. He took one of the hands on his face, and held it in his own between them, giving the other a reassuring smile. “It’s a long story.” He tried to wave off, only to be given a stern look.  _Look around, Makoto, we’re in a bathtub for the rest of our apparent lives I have all the time in the world for this story_ , the deep blue eyes communicated angrily. 

And so, Makoto began, starting from his vain following of the boat, to meeting Rin and Gou, to their travels together until finally reaching the coast. He left some tidbits out, like Rin’s kiss. It felt out of place, and wrong to discuss it, especially without the shark’s presence. The matter was done with anyway. No need to open up old wounds. 

“But how did you get  _here_.” Haruka persisted, his mouth forming a thin, impatient line. Makoto smiled awkwardly, looking off to the side.

“Well, I, err…Beached myself…” He trailed off, a bit self conscious of his own actions. They were incredibly stupid in hind sight, he could have easily died. It was miracle he even made it here.

Blue eyes widened at the thought, “Makoto!” And Makoto looked down at the dolphin in that moment—really looked. He saw the wide eyes, the slightly drawn eyebrows, and they shone with the absolute worry and guilt of putting him in this prison with him.

“It’s ok, Haru.” He offered in an effort to reassure him, taking his hands again in his own. Their warmth seemed to do little this time. 

“Why would you leave the ocean? Why?” Haru insisted, confused and with a growing sense of anger at his friend’s stupidity. He ripped his hands out of their hold to ball them into fists at his sides. All he had been longing for was to get back there…to swim in the wide seas again…How could Makoto just throw that all away so easily?

Makoto’s face flashed with a semblance of hurt, he looked deeply into Haru’s eyes, quieting him with his powerful gaze. It felt as if time had stopped between them as the orca spoke out in a sudden rush of emotion, “Because, it’s meaningless without you! I want to swim with you!” He surged forward, grabbing the other’s forearms to pull him close once more. 

Haruka’s eyes shined at the words, and he could feel the lightest of blushes stain his pale face. He looked away, biting his lip, not knowing how to respond to such a declaration. 

Makoto reddened more so, embarrassed by the words that had tumbled out of him. He let go of the other, withdrawing slightly. He wanted to brush it off, saying something along the lines of “sorry if that sounded weird its nothing really!’ but that made it seem so hollow. Those words had come from deep within and they only held the truth.

Haruka said nothing, but, after a painfully long moment, he did take back the other’s hand, entwining their fingers just like back then. It felt so right. And Makoto cherished the feeling of completeness it gave him. He couldn’t help the warm smile from growing on his face once more. 

Haruka stared at the smile that had been absent from his life for far too long and realized he wanted to capture it forever. And so he did. With his hand occupied in the other’s embrace, he leaned up and pressed his lips to Makoto’s own and kissed him. 


	11. Chapter 11

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which the past is revealed and Seijurou makes his non-appearance.

Makoto had only been kissed once before—at least on the lips—and it had not been the most pleasant experience. It had been sudden, terrifying and invasive. It had only instilled the instinct to  _get away_. And he had felt so awful afterwards because he truly  _did_  care about Rin, surprisingly more than he had ever realized, but not like that. Never like that. 

And it had hurt to reject him. Because it hurt to see his loved ones sad, especially if he was the one causing their anguish. 

He had decided he didn’t like kissing. 

But when Haruka kissed, when he pressed his warm lips against his own, fiercely yet with a twinge of fragile hesitancy, he felt none of those things. All he felt was Haruka. And Haruka was safe and comforting, calm and caring, quiet and peaceful, and everything he needed right now to ease his frantically beating heart. 

And so, tentatively, he kissed back. He raised his free hand to cup the dolphin’s face and bring him closer. Haruka squeezed their captive hands in return, before quietly pulling away and blinking his blue eyes up at the orca. 

Makoto’s hand lingered on the smooth pale face, thumb idly smoothing out the cheek almost without his knowledge. The appendage soon slipped off as he moved to secure his arms loosely around the others waist. 

They did not exchange a single word, all Makoto did was regain his smile and draw Haruka back into his enveloping embrace. The dolphin buried his face into the others shoulder, and let the silence hang around them.  Each others presence was all that was needed or would ever be needed. 

* * *

Rin’s grip on the gray haired fish loosened at the fear in his bright blue eyes. He was shocked. And angry. And confused. How the hell did he know Gou? Especially if he wasn’t there when they met? Gou couldn’t just swim out to meet the neighbors! What was Nitori doing snooping around their cave?

Nitori floundered a little, moving away from the overbearing shark and looking down into the deep darkness of the sea. “It was a while ago… We were just prowling about our territory!” 

“Who the fuck is ‘we’!?” Rin demanded, tail lashing, even angrier at the thought there were two strangers acquainted with his baby sister. 

“I-I was with another shark at the time!” He explained, throwing his hands up in surrender , “Any-Anyway, we could tell newcomers had come in—I guess you and Miss Kou were them, or one of them. We also spotted a weird rogue orca! But we kept clear of him, and we were beginning to think we would have to move on a to better spot when…”

~~~~~~~~~~ … ~~~~~~~~~~

Nitori fiddled beside the large, powerful shark, eyes glancing in every which direction, wary of intruders. “Mr. Seijurou, m-maybe we should just leave. Summer is going to start soon and the beach will only get more crowded…”

The shark frowned, letting out a sigh. His hair was a fiery red, his muscles were toned, and he dwarfed the much more timid fish beside him. But that did not mean he disregarded his words, “You’re probably right…” He muttered, “But I’d like to give these intruders a piece of my mind!” He added, giving a confident toothy grin, “They got a lot of nerve encroaching on us!”

“I guess…” Nitori mumbled, no where near as enthusiastic as his companion. 

Seijurou paused, looking over at his pilot fish before pulling him into a rough one hand embrace. “Listen here, kid! You need some more confidence! Don’t just let life walk all over ya!” He offered. Nitori reddened and nodded, pulling away from the tight hold. 

“But sometimes you have to know when you’ve been beaten…” He reminded quietly. 

“Yeah, that’s true too.” Seijurou nodded, and yet remained ever positive. He paused, “Hey, you smell that?”

“Smell what?” Came the surprised slightly fear filled response. 

“Smells like another shark.” He growled, eyes narrowing in caution as he glanced around. Nitori instinctively moved closer to his guard, whirling around wide eyed for any sign of danger. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary. “It’s coming from that cave!” Seijurou continued, grinning as he pointed at the hollowed out opening to the right, close to the surface of the ocean. He began swimming toward it, confidence exuding out of him, while Nitori tried to pull him back. 

“Mr. Seijurou! It’s dangerous! We sh-should just go somewhere else…” The fish pleaded to no avail. The shark had made up his mind, and his stroke only grew more determined as he made his way to the mouth of the cave. 

The pair slipped in, Nitori pressing close against his side in fear, as the darkness enveloped them. They were silent, tense. The cave seemed to go on forever, and Seijurou debated turning back in defeat. Perhaps his rival was out hunting. 

That is, until a piercing shriek erupted through the darkness, and pain sank into his shoulder. Nitori let out his own squawk of surprise as the small shark, who had suddenly sprang from the blackest corner, sank her sharp teeth into his friend’s shoulder. 

Seijurou let out a snarl, shoving the girl off of him with a powerful movement of his arm. She smacked against the cave wall with a grunt. He clutched his bleeding shoulder, teeth gritted and eyes narrowed furiously. Nitori backed away from the fight. It wasn’t like he was any match for a shark. His presence would only be a hindrance. 

The girl fell in a heap onto the cave floor, wincing, before collecting herself and scurrying backwards into the safety of the dark. Seijurou wasn’t going to let her get away with that though, and immediately darted after her, a growl growing in his chest. Not just anyone could land a blow on his impressive physique and live to tell the tale!

Nitori curled up in fright, waiting to hear the familiar sounds of a blood curdling fight. And they certainly came, but they did not last very long. And soon there was only a gasp and hushed whispering. The gray haired boy’s eyebrows furrowed, confusion wracking his erratic heart. He edged towards the shadows, “Mr. Seijurou? Are you alright?!” 

Seijurou popped his head out, “I’m fine! Don’t worry!” He called, with a wave of his hand, “We’re not fighting anymore!” He wore a cheeky grin, a red tint to his cheeks that matched the blood still dripping from his wound. 

Wel,l this was odd. 

Nitori blinked, “…Why not?” He managed to voice out, shock almost freezing his tongue in place. 

Seijurou let out a laugh, coming out fully into the light, still holding his bleeding shoulder but looking no worse for ware. Hesitantly, the girl slipped out too, looking red in the face and keeping her distance, remaining tense. “You know I don’t like fights that ain’t fair.” He continued, as if that clarified everything so easily. 

“I can handle myself perfectly fine.” The girl shark bit out, shooting him a look. “Plus, I was the only one who landed a blow.” She reminded, her tone tinged in hard fought victory. She had long red hair that flowed around her in the water beautiful. It’s shade was more muted than his shark companion, but no less stunning. 

Seijurou smiled, “That you did! And boy does it sting. Nitori, help me out here!” He called, and the smaller boy finally managed to summon the courage to scamper over quickly to examine the wound. Hurt or not, the shark did not miss a beat, continuing easily, “So what’s your name, sweetheart?”

“Gou—I mean, I like to be called Kou, though.” She stammered out, the red growing at her misstep. She couldn’t tell if the shark was listening though, as he continued to simply smile at her. She needed to calm down. She had been terrified at the invasion. She knew she was no match for another shark in her condition—not that she would ever go out without a fight. But still. The entire situation was throwing her off. She didn’t know what to make of it. She didn’t know what to make of any of this. It was quite awkward.

 _“_ Uh,” Nitori offered, reading the atmosphere just as clearly as her, “We’re very sorry to intrude upon your cave!” He apologized, beginning to nudge his companion back out. “We’ll take our leave!”

“Oh. Ok…” She replied, slightly surprised and oddly…slightly disappointed. She had never been with another shark before. Other than her brother and her father. In fact, she had lived a fairly isolated life, this whole journey with the orca being quite novel to her. Novel and exciting! 

“Hey! So, uh, you wanna hang out some time maybe?” Seijurou called, craning his neck back as he was dragged out, “Like I could bring you something to eat and we could talk and stuff?” The lopsided dopey smile was still on his face, his eyes never breaking from her form, even as the pilot fish’s grip on his arm became more insistent. 

She blinked at the proposal, “Umm, ok? I guess?” She responded, still quite confused at exactly what she wanted to make of the entire situation. She did like meeting new people..and things were still awkward between her brother and Makoto for reasons she still did not understand. It would be nice to talk to someone else. She could only take her broth—slight worry quickly darted through her eyes, “W-wait! Umm, you have to come in the evenings! Otherwise, my brother might see you…”

She didn’t know why she didn’t want Rin to meet the other shark…probably because they would fight to the death…yeah, that was it. No other reason. 

“Brother?” Seijurou repeated, a slight frown alighting his features. He quickly washed them away, his smile resurfacing, “Alright! I’ll be back tomorrow night!”

~~~~~~~~~~ … ~~~~~~~~~~

“My sister would never keep secrets from me!” Rin suddenly interrupted, infuriated, “You’re a fucking liar or he fucking manipulated her!” He was absolutely seething at the very thought of some rogue dangerous shark harassing his sister, endangering her. 

Nitori swam a bit back, surprised at the outburst, flinching, “I-I’m not lying! Please, Mr. Rin! H-Hear me out…” He pleaded, raising his hands up in surrender once more. The tactic always seemed to work.

Rin gritted his teeth, grumbling out, “Fine.”

 _“_ Well, basically…Mr. Seijurou and I would visit every day in the evening and they would talk and it was kind of awkward. For me. After a while they kind of forgot I was there…so I would kind of stay outside of the cave so i dont exactly know what h-happened—I’M SURE IT WASN’T ANYTHING YOU’RE THINKING MR. RIN!” Nitori shouted quickly, seeing the growing red, furious face of his companion. He backed away a bit more, “Seijurou was a really nice shark ok! He wouldn’t do anything bad! And Miss Kou seemed to like him a-alot!”

All Rin did was continue to glare. Nitori fell silent.

“So, what happened?” Rin pressed, albeit curious even though he was furious. 

“Well…they…they were killed.”

* * *

 

“But why a whistle?” Makoto hissed, looking over at Haruka in confusion, eyes wincing as the sound stung his ears. The dolphin looked unaffected, simply shrugging his shoulders. Although he did squeeze the other’s hand comfortingly. 

“Humans are weird.” was his only response. 

Makoto nodded slowly, turning his gaze back toward the two humans he recognized from the beach. Haru had named them Blue and Yellow—which he thought was mean but what else was there to call them—and they were currently trying to get their attention. 

“But what do they want?” The orca continued, starting to get alarmed at the frantic blond’s erratic behavior. He was waving his arms about and constantly blowing into that awful whistle. 

Haruka shrugged again, dipping back down into the water to swim toward his trainers. Makoto hesitated but soon followed after his best friend, trusting in his judgement. He got a pat on his head for his trouble, which he wasn’t sure if he enjoyed but certainly wasn’t averse to. 

Haruka for one, didn’t seem all that perturbed by the human contact, which surprised the orca a lot. Haruka was usually uncomfortable with others, especially others in his close proximity. It was only Makoto he let through. 

But Blue and Yellow seemed to have gotten through…

Something uncomfortable swirled in the larger cetacean’s stomach at the thought and he quickly ignored it. 

“Nagisa, what, exactly, are you planning?” Rei sighed out, looking at his coworker with a frown. Ngaisa had that  _look_  on his face, the one that terrified him. The calculated smirk and manipulative shine in his eye that sent shivers down his spine and did not bode well for anyone. 

“Well, all we gotta do is make a show. We’re gonna advertise this duo and rake in so much cash no one’ll think of separating them! Duh.” Nagisa explained away easily, smirk only growing as he talked.

“Yes but  _how_?” He was absolutely exasperated with the other. 

“Well,” Nagisa began, scratching his cheek lightly, “I was thinkin’ of having them come in separately, each do their own little thing, and then have them come together and do jumps and flips together. Maybe play some cute emotional music, ya feel me?” He recounted, “Oh! But the best part is the name I thought up! It’s the best name ever! Get excited!”

Rei stared at him. 

“Get excited, I said! Are you excited?” The blond repeated, absolutely brimming.

“I’m scared.”

Nagisa let out a laugh, clapping the other’s shoulder loudly, “No, listen! Call it, ‘Dolphino and Orcalette’. Get it?” The blond’s smile grew bigger as he looked over for approval. 

Rei grimaced, “Nagisa—“

“Get it?” Nagisa repeated, “Like Romeo and Juliette but a Dolphin and an Orca!”

“It’s dumb, Nagisa.” came the honest response.

“No, its not! It’s perfect!” came the denial.

“They’re both male.” Rei continued, trying to think of anything to keep this from becoming a reality. 

“So? What the audience don’t know cant hurt ‘em.” Nagisa brushed off just as easily.

“Please dont call the show that awful pun.” The blue haired man bemoaned, rubbing his temples in frustration.

“Best pun.” Nagisa corrected, and the slump in the others shoulders alerted him of his victore. 

“It’s not beautiful.” Rei hung his head in defeat, weeping internally at the shame of it all. Nagisa only continued his cruel laugh. The glasses wearing man sighed, turning back to the two dolphins to hand Haru a fish for his patience.

Haruka ate the fish contently, and Makoto couldn’t help but smile at the peace exuding from his friend. He had been so worried, worried the other was still hurt—

“Haru!” He shouted suddenly, turning away from the humans and taking the other’s hand quickly and examining it closely. The dolphin tensed up instinctively, staring at the orca inquisitively before forcing the appendage to relax. “Your arm! Are you ok? Rin…”

Haruka blinked at the name in confusion, looking down at the arm, memories of the shark flashing in his brain. There was a scar, but it had healed relatively well. “I’m fine.”

Makoto traced the raised skin, frowning deeply. It sent shivers up the dolphin’s spine and he had half the mind to pull his arm back. But it was Makoto so it was ok and he let him be. 

“I’m so sorry.” Makoto whispered, “If…If I’d been quicker—If I hadn’t been  _so afraid_  I could have—“

“Shut up, Makoto.” Came the dry response, hand pulling back softly, “You worry too much.”

The brunet stared at him, a sad smile on his face, “I guess.”

Haruka didn’t like that smile at all. “Stop that.” He ordered, “You’re hurt too.” He reminded, pointing at the other’s wounded tail. 

Makoto blinked at the sudden statement, laughing lightly at the hint of a pout on the other’s face. He brought the dark haired boy into a hug—an act he found himself doing more and more often. Haruka allowed it. 

“I’m fine.” The brunet echoed, swishing his tail behind him in proof. Haruka nodded, burying his head into the orca’s chest. “Haru, are you happy?” 

“I hate it here.” Was the honest, instaneous response.

Makoto frowned, “You do?”

“It’s boring. I want…I want to swim in the ocean again.”

“I’m sorry.” The brunette murmured into his short hair, wondering if there would ever be the possibility of escaping the human prison. He would certainly try. For Haru.

“But,” Haruka continued after a moment, lifting his head to look at the brunet’s face and letting the smallest of smiles slip his stoic face, “It’s not so bad if Makoto is here too.” The sentence felt selfish on his tongue but all Makoto did was let out a happy squeal and hug him tighter, making the smaller’s cheeks tint the lightest of pinks. 

Yes, if Makoto was here it was better. 

* * *

“Mr. Seijurou was visiting Miss Kou like usual, and I was keeping busy swimming around the cave when I heard a commotion. I should have recognized you! I don’t know how I didn’t…I was…I was trying to forget I guess! But it was certainly you, coming back much too early and Miss Kou was distraught that you would find Mr. Seijurou but then  _you_  were distraught and started to swim away. Mr. Seijurou tried to calm Miss Kou down but she was very upset that she couldn’t stop you from going and was cursing herself a lot, oh it was awful to hear!”

Rin didn’t know if he wanted to hear the rest, what with his heart tightening in guilt and his hands fisting at his sides. He knew how this story was going to end. And he preferred not to relive it. He was such an idiot, leaving his sister behind for a killer whale. How could he have? He gritted his teeth but kept quiet as the pilot fish continued rambling his story with difficulty.

“And then…And then fishermen came…And, Miss Kou had her head out to look for you but then she saw them and quickly sank back down but it was too late and…and…” Nitori took a deep breath, biting his lip. He was starting to cry but he pushed through, even as his voice threatened to give out, “And then, Mr. Seijurou he…He pulled her back right then and the harpoon speared him and he-he-he  _smiled_ up at her. And I think he said something but I couldn’t hear him. And he fell into the darkness of the sea and I don’t know what Miss Kou did after that because I was rushing after him. But i did hear her scream and I-I didn’t know what to do! It was all so fast and Mr. Seijurou just kept sinking! And I finally reached him and he was already so cold and his face was so pale but he died smiling of course that fool but I couldn’t help him at all…I was useless. I…I’m sorry M-Mr. Rin. I could not..I did not..I…I’m so sorry.”

And Rin was sorry too. Because the wound was still so fresh and he wanted his sister to be alive. And he was sorry because even though the little pilot fish was crying now in front of him he couldn’t bring himself to say anything. He guessed he really was a coward. He had nothing to say. There was nothing to say. The reality wasn’t going to change no matter what words were exchanged. 

He turned away and started to swim, glaring at the distance without really looking. And he kept swimming, ignoring his rumbling stomach to focus on his own turmoil. How was he even supposed to be happy in life with everyone he cared aboutgone?

He paused and turned around, realizing the pilot fish was no where in sight. He hadn’t followed him. Almost without his permission his name slipped through his parted lips, “Nitori?” He felt dumb for saying it. Why had he expected him to follow when he hadn’t consoled him at all? He felt oddly disappointed. He shook the feeling away. 

Maybe he was just meant to be alone


	12. Chapter 12

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Dolphino and Orcalette is somehow successful.

“I can’t believe this.” Rei muttered into his hand as he pushed his glasses back up his nose. Nagisa was a ball of energy beside him, chittering about. He turned to him with a big bright knowing smile. 

“I  _told_  you it would work!” He reminded, shit eating grin in place. Rei grumbled something under his breath but made no move to deny the statement. It was true. His sparkling coworker had insisted this idiotic plan would work and it inevitably had. 

 _Dolphino and Orcalette_  was a hit. 

Although it had taken them a couple weeks to get the aquatic pair to comply with their wishes, they seemed to learn quickly. Haru had always enjoyed doing flips, and he seemed more energetic than ever before with the orca by his side. 

Mako proved to be an extremely docile creature. He followed commands easily enough, and seemed happy to listen to both Rei and Nagisa. Nevertheless, the blond never let Rei too close to the edge of the pool. The blue haired man was slightly annoyed at the coddling but he accepted it for now. However, he wasn’t  _that_  bad of a swimmer and he found the other’s protectiveness to be a tad bit annoying. 

He would prove himself capable soon enough, he was sure of that. 

The show itself was pretty simple. It began with Mako waving and splashing the crowd, doing a slide out while Nagisa described him as some sweet young princess of a sea kingdom. Rei found the script itself a bit too corny even for  _his_  tastes—and he was the one who had once pleaded with his superiors to allow him to modify his suit to have butterfly print—but Nagisa’s lit up eyes made him hold back any comments. 

The kids liked it and that was all that really mattered in the end. 

Then it was Rei’s cue to send Haru in with a graceful jump as Nagisa continued his flowery narration of a prince from foreign lands. And then the pair would do their little dance punctuated by jumps and flips—the latter only for Haru. And the crowd would ooh and awe and cheer at the sight. 

“You know that’s not even the plot of Romeo and Juliette right?” Rei reminded, as the show ended and they headed to the back after giving Mako and Haru their rewards. 

“Details.” Nagisa waved off easily, skipping happily beside him, “The important thing is everyone loves it! You know we’re on the news! The whole nation’s watchin’ us, Rei!” He grinned happily, and Rei swallowed nervously at the thought, “But most importantly, Haru and Mako get to swim together!”

* * *

Rin found himself missing the stupid annoying parasite that had been attached to him for such a relatively short time. The silence was suffocating and he would kill for the incessant chatter that once filled it. Without the constant stream of distraction he was only left with his thoughts.

His miserable thoughts.

He found himself venturing around where the hellish cave was, hovering around its perimeter in search of the boy. He absolutely refused to go inside the cave. Even when he grew more desperate in his search. 

“Nitori!?” 

He had not meant to call out the name. It slipped out of him, and the very act angered him beyond belief. No. He wasn’t going to do this anymore. No more attachments. All they did was end in loss and death. He crossed his arms, making the resolute decision to end this idiotic search and continue on with his pitiful life. He would just focus his frustrations back on the humans and take out an arm or two. 

Still he did not move, and his eyes continued to scan the area critically. He really hated himself. 

With more effort than he would like to admit, he turned back around and swam purposefully away from the tainted area. No more of that. 

“Mr. Rin?”

Rin would never admit how fast and desperately he turned around at the faintest murmur. He stared wildly, tail lashing, wondering if maybe, somehow he had been mistaken. Was his mind beginning to play tricks on him?

But then again, louder, “Mr. Rin!”

He turned to his left and found a pale slim arm waving to him from a dark crevice. He swam toward without a thought, “Nitori?”

“Mr. Rin!” Nitori returned, pulling himself out of his hiding spot. “Were you looking for me?” He asked, his bright blue eyes seeming to shine at the very thought. 

Rin’s stomach flipped, “No, of course not.” He lied.

The shine seemed to dim, “Oh… I thought… Oh well, umm, hello!” The boy floundered, hands fidgeting between them. 

“What are you doing in a hole?” Rin asked, dumbfounded. 

“Uh…Surviving?” Rin gave him an incomprehensible look and Nitori found it necessary to explain, “Not every fish can swim so freely, you know…” He mumbled, ducking his head down in slight embarassment. 

Rin frowned at the admission, looking to the side and letting out a long sigh, “You can swim with me again, I guess.”

“Really?” The blue shine was even brighter.

“Yeah, whatever.”

* * *

“They’re making us do it again.” Haruka informed, sighing at the signal. Makoto looked over at him.

“Do you not want to?” The orca asked, “We don’t have to.” He informed, perfectly ready to take a stand if Haruka wanted him too. But he had been certain the dolphin enjoyed doing the flips and spins, especially when they did them together…He quite liked it himself.

It had been so long since he had seen Haruka’s acrobatics, the sight filled him with such awe and joy. But if Haruka wasn’t enjoying himself, then it would be selfish of him to ask him to continue. 

His inner conflict seemed to shine through his emerald eyes because the dolphin soon gave him a calming look, “I don’t like the beginning.” He clarified.

A soft smile elated the brunet’s feature as he pulled the black haired boy to him. “We’ll meet again in a few minutes.” He promised, kissing his forehead softly. It was something they did a lot now. He didn’t know what it made them. Everything was still the same. They still spoke with their eyes, they still warmed each others hands, but now they also kissed and hugged and held each other closer than ever before.

It was nice.

More than nice. 

But…Haruka would always panic at any semblance of separation. His grip on his larger hand would tighten at the lightest hint. The first time they practiced the show he had absolutely refused to let go, burying his head in Makoto’s shoulder, ingraining him in his thoughts.

It broke Makoto’s heart to see him like this. To see what those lonely months had done to his once perfectly calm and collected friend. 

The whistle sounded and Haruka let go of him with difficulty, stoic face back in place but his eyes seemed to overflow with an intense longing to remain. Makoto frowned and almost reached out for him again, but the dolphin had already swum away to his station. 

The show began. 

* * *

There was still something bothering Nitori about this entire situation. Although it seemed Rin had calmed down, and was, at least to some degree, happy with his company, he was still so quiet and stand offish. He never brought up his sister again. He never brought up the story at all, in fact. It was as if he would rather not know.

Which is understandable.

However, there was one thing that still plagued the pilot fish’s mind. 

The orca.

He knew Rin and the rogue mammal were related in some way. He saw the pair hang around together, at least by the cave, while he and Mr. Seijurou waited to enter. 

However, he did not know to what degree. The orca never went inside the cave. It merely lingered in the ocean by itself, pensive and every once in a while, surfacing for air. 

He was an odd one, but back then, everything about the situation was odd. His best—well, only—friend was obsessed over a stranger. Albeit, a very pretty and kind stranger, but still a stranger. He didn’t understand how Mr. Seijurou had come to grow so fond of the girl after so little time. But Nitori would be lying if he didn’t see how honest those feelings were. Mr. Rin may never believe him, but there was no hidden agenda in the radiant sparkle of those golden eyes whenever the pair met. 

Even when they parted ways for the night it was all the shark wanted to speak about, “Did you hear what Gou said! Riding on an orca how cool is that? Oh but did you see how pretty her hair was today? She had it up and you could see her eyes and-and-and oh I wish we could go out swimming together. Do you-Do you think she’d let me hold her as we swam? You know? To help her? Do you think she would agree?” 

And Nitori would only correct the excited fish about his choice of name for the poor girl, and flounder for a neutral response because he honestly did not know. He felt a bit of a failure. Mr. Seijurou protected him and shared his food, and in return Nitori wanted to be as helpful as possible. But here he was, unable to surmise a single definite answer to his questions.

It was nothing like the future failure of holding him limp in his arms. 

Still, the orca’s presence in the weird shark family was baffling, and Miss Kou never explained fully her reasonings. And the question was plaguing him and maybe since Mr. Rin had been so kind to allow him back into his company he would find his seeking of the information reasonable? It was worth a try.

And so, the pilot fish let out a cough, seeing the shark turn his gaze back toward him in a flash of a question. Nitori took his moment, “Uh, Mr. Rin…”

“Yeah?” The shark responded noncommittally, not looking back for long and continuing his prowl through the dark ocean. Nitori faltered at first but decided to remain steadfast, gripping his hands together tightly in front of him for confidence.

“Who was the orca?”

The shark stopped in front of him. Nitori flinched, but looked over his hands that were now covering his face when nothing changed. The shark remained where he was, as if frozen in time.

“How.”

“How?” Nitori repeated fearfully, taking a tentative swim forward.

“How did you know about him?!” The shark flared up, turning around to the pilot fish who shrank back at the sudden movement. Rin didn’t really care to notice that. 

“I-I saw him with yo-you now that I realize that that was you. An-And Miss Kou mentio-mentioned him from time to time and I was just..”

“Just what?!” The shark demanded, eyes narrow and jaw tense. 

“Wondering! Wondering wh-what you were doing with a killer whale?” Came the final nervous squeak. 

Rin growled, turning away with gritted teeth. He debated what to say. “I was…guiding him.” He finally managed, keeping his voice at a disinterested monotone, “To this beach.”

“Guiding him? Why?” The fish pressed.

“He wanted to find his  _friend_.” He spat out, perhaps a bit too bitterly.

Nitori didn’t understand the utter repulsion that pulsed out from the fish at the utterance of the very last word, but it intrigued him to no end, “Did he?”

“I have no idea.” 

The pilot fish blinked at the statement, gathering the courage to swim up to the shark’s side, “How come?”

“He’s probably dead.” Rin mumbled out instead. Voicing the thought that had been plaguing him for so long, made it all the more real in his heart. And it hurt…it really did. Everyone was gone. They weren’t coming back. They  _couldn’t_  come back. He was all alone. 

“I’m sorry.” Came the soft condolence beside him, reminding him that _technically_  he wasn’t all alone. He looked over and saw the genuine concern in his companion’s big grey eyes. It made him feel even shittier. The fish was nice enough and he treated him like shit constantly. He didn’t know how he could stand it…He was like…Makoto in that way…he guessed. 

Rin sighed, “He beached himself…thats what caused the commotion. But it was me who led the fishers over… I lost sight of him and when I came back out he was gone.” He confessed honestly, frowning at the awful memory…It was kind of nice to let it out…To speak about it finally.

He realized just how stifling his silence had been on him.

And suddenly, without his permission, everything came spilling out.

* * *

Rei breathed a sigh of relief as Haru made his last jump, spinning into the air and slipping back into the water delicately beside the waiting orca. The pair swum together smoothly as the crowd applauded and Nagisa motioned them back into the other tank before taking a bow beside his partner. 

As the crowd slowly dispersed, Nagisa clapped a hand against the taller man’s back, sending him a huge grin. “I think that’s the first time!” He informed, absolutely giddy.

“First time?” Rei repeated, slightly confused, “That was our fourth show, Nagisa…”

“Nooooo, I mean I think it was the first time with absolutely no mistakes on anyone’s part!” The blond clarified, jumping up and down. “Haru paid more attention and Mako’s gotten so much more comfortable! And you got your confidence!” He exclaimed, suddenly wrapping his arms around the other in a tight friendly hug.

Maybe too friendly…since the shorter man seemed to linger there, his head almost nuzzling into his chest. Rei felt himself reddening and after a moment started to squirm. The blond seemed to get the message, quickly stepping away but with the same cheery grin brightening his face.

“Rei, you don’t like physical contact, do you?” He asked, with a genuine look in his eye that was so very rare. It made the blue haired man pause and actually think about it.

“I guess I dont.” He agreed after a moment, “I’m a fan of personal space. I know the idea is foreign to you—“ Nagisa made a face at the remark but the glasses toting man continued unabated, “But it’s alright. I understand you enjoy being very touchy feely with others, and I’m perfectly ok with that.”

“Really?” Nagisa prompted, and for just a flash there seemed something manipulative in his eyes. But then it was gone and the sincere interest remained. 

Still, Rei swallowed harshly, “Err, yes.”

“Then, I’m going to start properly greeting you from now on!” He informed. He was graced with a confused expression as a response, and the sly smirk grew on the shorter man’s face. He suddenly grabbed the other’s forearms, pulling him down to his height in a sudden jolt and planting a chaste kiss on his lips. 

Rei had never been so red in his life then he was in that moment. He could actually feel the blood rushing to his face and heating him up until he could feel sweat gathering at the top of his forehead. He made a squawking noise, pulling back and was gratefully released from the giggling blond’s hold.

“N-Nagisa,” He stammered, “Wh-What was that?” He demanded, only to see the blond skipping away to the exit of the exhibit, whistling a cheery tune. 

“It’s how I say hello and goodbye! It’s a French thing!” He called from afar, waving a hand as if it made everything ok.

Rei stuttered out, “You-You’re not even French! You’re Japanese!” But the blond had disappeared, and Rei was left a mess of embarrassment and an odd bubbling feeling in his heart that matched nothing he’d felt before and that—for once—he had no intention of analyzing. 

* * *

The entire city was raving over the adorableness of the Dolphino and Orcalette show. Tourism was up, and soon the two cetaceans became the icons for the entire park. Plush toys sold out every day, the stadium was always packed. And Rei was forced to become comfortable with microphones being shoved into his face. 

The local news was having a field day with the entire event, constantly asking about the dolphins’ relationship, how training went, if they liked the shows, prattling on and on into the trainers’ ears. Luckily, Nagisa seemed to flourish on camera, easily handling the reporters’ questions and using his personal charm to keep the media on their side. Rei found it simply astounding—mostly because he would always flounder when the lens focused on him, stuttering out lame responses that put his touting of theory to shame. 

Makoto and Haruka remained perfectly oblivious to the onslaught of attention they were receiving, content to swim together and talk and nuzzle and maybe kiss at times.

But no matter how much they tried to ignore it, the feelings of boredom were beginning to creep their way in. Haruka feeling it more so, as Makoto’s appearance became less of a novelty and things seemed to return to how they were. 

Makoto, although he had only been trapped for a relatively short amount of time, felt the overpowering effects as well. He did not mind the still waters, nor the noise, nor the trainers. In fact, he quite liked that there was nothing new, surprising nor scary within his and Haruka’s tank, unlike the dark foreboding ocean. 

However, he was cramped. He could barely swim within the glass walls, and although he loved being so close to Haruka, the claustrophobia was beginning to set it. He tried to ignore it for now. He tried to push it down. The dolphin’s patience, however, had already been worn down even before the orca’s appearance. 

Haruka hated change. He loved routine and living his days in peace and quiet. But this was too much. He longed for the flowing waters of the ocean, for the fanciful sights that had graced his eyes that he had taken for granted. He wanted to swim long expanses and stretch his fins.  

He wanted out.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Aaaaaaand AO3 has officially caught up to where the fic is.
> 
> As for update schedules I try to update every week or so but it's been getting difficult, especially now that classes are going to start again.
> 
> This fic is a good 2/3 of the way here! I hope you guys enjoy the ride to the finish!
> 
> Thank you for reading all the way to this point. Love you all.


	13. Chapter 13

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Haru wants out. And he means it.

“It’s falling.” 

Makoto opened up his bleary eyes, looking up to see the dolphin’s concerned face. His eyebrows were scrunched in concentration, mouth jutting out slightly in a discreet frown. The blue eyes were looking elsewhere, but flicked down to meet the orca’s soft green gaze after a moment. 

“Hmm?” Makoto hummed sleepily, pushing his hair back and letting out a tired yawn. He blinked his eyes slowly, seeing the worry almost multiply behind shades of blue. It made him pause, giving the other a perplexed look. The other looked too serious. 

“You can’t feel it?” Came the quiet question.

“Feel what?” Makoto asked, becoming concerned himself and straightening up. He rested his hands on the other’s slim pale shoulders, leaning in close, “Are you ok?”

“I’m fine.” Haruka muttered, pushing away lightly, “It’s _you_ who isn’t.” He continued, swimming to the other’s side. Makoto turned to follow him, only to be held firmly in place with a hand on his shoulder, keeping him looking straight. 

“Haru?” He voiced, confused and alarmed, as he was kept blind from whatever his friend was examining. A hand ghosted over his dorsal fin, and the light touch made him shiver. He reddened slight, “H-Haru what are you doing?” He insisted, trying to crane his neck to look behind him. 

“Can’t you tell?!” Haruka snapped in exasperation, “It’s falling, it’s drooping! I-Is that suppose to happen? I dont remember anyone else...having that...” What started as a frustrated shout fell to a whisper. 

Makoto pulled free from the dolphin’s weakening grasp, swimming over to the side of the tank with glass wall for viewing. He looked at his faint reflection, twisting his body around in an effort to see what had the normally stoic teen so disturbed. He blinked at the sight he found. 

His dorsal fin was, indeed, drooping. It was curving downward, looking almost like an ocean wave. He furrowed his brow’s at the sight. Haruka came up behind him, peering at the phenomenon. Tentatively, with delicate hand, he tried to flip the fin back up to its normal erect position. Makoto let out a shiver, swimming away in a quick burst, “Don’t do that.” He shot out, before quickly adding a polite, “Please.”

Haruka frowned, “Is that suppose to happen? The..falling?”

“I don’t think so...” Makoto answered honestly, trying to reach around to touch it himself, as if to confirm it. 

“Does it hurt?” Came another soft question.

“Not really.” The orca replied, swimming around the tank to make sure he _could_. Thoughts of Kou and her predicament flashed in his eyes and he felt sick to his stomach. Thankfully, he seemed to be more or less ok. “I guess it’s ok...” He decided. He really didn’t know what to say about the discovery. He wished his parents were around to asked. He...He hoped they were doing ok out in the ocean. He tried not to think to much into that vein. 

“It’s not ok.” Haruka denied, suddenly whipping around to face the other way. He swam in agitated circles, “It’s this place. It’s not good. It did that. I know it. That shouldn’t happen.”

“Haru...”

“I hate it here. I want to go home.”

Makoto didn’t know what to say. 

* * *

“So, you tried to eat its sibling and his best friend but then he forgave you and asked you to guide him?” Nitori repeated, his face scrunching up in utter confusion. This story made no sense. 

“Yes! Can’t you listen? And I apologized for that shit later. He’s a predator too he knows its no hard feelings. Sharks gotta eat. Killer whales gotta eat too. But yeah, dolphin boy got taken by humans and I remembered some place by the shore where they kept dolphins so...yeah.”

“But why would he trust you? N-No offense! Or anything! I-I mean given his circumstances it just...I just dont understand!”

“You have to meet the guy to understand. He’s just nice. Really _really_ nice. I wish there was a better word but there isn’t. Always smiling, always positive. Thoughtful, caring, warm, happy, sweet, loving...” Rin’s voice faltered, his face heating up slightly with the string of words that kept leaving his mouth. Nitori stared at him and Rin quickly looked away.

“Were you two...” Nitori began, reddening himself at the silly thought before he was quickly interrupted.

“No! Never. I mean-I wasn’t interested. Plus, he’s in love with dolphin boy whether he accepts it or not.” He finished, ending in a loud sigh. 

Nitori frowned at that, tilting his head.

“But none of that even matters anyway now.” He growled, “He’s dead.”

“You don’t know that.” The fish argued, pulling up closer, and patting the redhead’s shoulder cautiously, comfortingly. Rin allowed it for once. “He might still be alive, with the humans.”

“And why’s that any better? I’m never gonna see him again.” He snapped. 

“Then why do you hang around this beach.” The pilot fish frowned. 

“Fuck off.”

“Mr. Rin!” Nitori pleaded, “I think--I think you should move on! If-If there’s no chance, why keep tormenting yourself?” 

“Because I _should_ be miserable, ok! Makoto’s gone and my sisters d-dead! Why the fuck should I be happy.” Rin spat out, trying to turn away from the others reasoning. 

And quietly, “I think you deserve to be happy...”

“Your opinion doesn’t matter.” Rin hissed, refusing to face him again. He bit his lip angrily, wondering why it was so easy to undo his carefully crafted shield. He hated being so emotional. 

Nitori couldn’t hide the flash of hurt in his eyes. He tried to bury it back down as quickly as he could, “W-What I think you need is closure.”

“Yeah, and how do I get that?” The red head snapped.

“I...I don’t know.” The fish shrank back, thinking. The shark let out a snort of contempt, beginning to swim deeper down in search of food. Ending the conversation. Nitori quickly followed after him, “But I’ll think of something ok! You can count on me, Mr. Rin!”

“Yeah, yeah.” Rin muttered, but he couldn’t help the slight smile at the sentiment. 

* * *

“Something’s wrong with Haru.” Rei announced, coming away from the edge to Nagisa’s side. “He’s not responding correctly. He just keeps swimming in circles.” He frowned at the sight, seeing the agitated slashing of the cetacean’s tail in the still waters. He could see even Mako was hanging back from the other aquatic creature. Usually the two were inseparable. 

Nagisa made a distracted sound of agreement watching the dolphin closely. Haru had become so docile and obedient, the sudden reversion to his initial aversion was alarming. Furthermore, this was beyond his ignoring and cold demeanor of months past. This was angry. Volatile. Dangerous. 

Beneath the water Makoto was doing his best to handle the situation, “Haru, swimming in circles won’t do anything.” He tried, calmly. Haruka had always been so calm, so serene. He didn’t remember ever seeing him so agitated, so furious. 

“I know.” The cetacean bit out, finally stopping and swirling around to look at the orca. The anger seemed to leave him, his shoulder slumped down in defeat. “I know.” He repeated. Makoto edged closer, and Haruka allowed him into his space, letting the taller teen wrap his arms around and pull him into his chest. It was soothing. It was nice. It was Makoto. 

“I don’t know how much longer I can stand this.” Came the soft, scared, whisper. Makoto only held him closer in response. It was all he could offer. There was nothing he could say to alleviate his dearest friend’s anguish. And that, more than anything, made him miserable. 

He did, however, try for a distraction, “Let’s just do this next show ok? At least its fun to stretch out and do flips. Blue and Yellow are counting on us.” He added, green eyes flashing over to where there trainers were still calling for them. Makoto hated to disappoint anyone, even humans. It was oddly endearing, but not what Haruka was in the mood for.

Still, he humored his best friend. He pressed a quick chaste kiss to the other’s lips out of habit, and pulled back to swim over to Blue. The orca let a soft smile appear on his features before quickly hovering over to Yellow for his own instructions. 

Moments later the music blared and the show began. Makoto waved his hand before slipping into the other tank and out of Haruka’s sight. And the loss of his warm presence set off the smaller cetaceans inner panic like a switch. His tail lashed behind him in sharp movements and he started to look around in a frenzy of agitated jerks and twitches. 

He could tell Blue was trying to calm him down but it wasn’t doing him any good. Not in the least. The dolphin wanted out. He was at the end of his line. He couldn’t take this confinement any longer. He needed the ocean, he longed for its soothing presence, for the water freely moving around him. For the freedom to go and do whatever he wanted. For the excited. For the will to live. 

Before he could stomach it. And with Makoto around it had been slightly easier. But now, now with Makoto seeming to detereotate before his eyes, whether the orca admitted it or not, it was all too much. 

He needed to get out. 

He heard his cue. Rei seemed hesitant, but calmed down slightly at the sight of the dolphin complying with the request to leave the tank for the other. Although, he could not shake away the bad feeling sinking down into the pit of his stomach. They entered the show tank as scripted, Nagisa began his speech on the gallant prince in search of true love, as Haruka did his series of flips and spins. 

Except he did not do his series of flips and spins. 

Instead, he dove straight down into the water, as deep as the tank allowed him. There was a sudden confused hush among the crowd, as Nagisa paused. Rei continued to whistle for the renegade cetacean with no luck. Makoto looked over at him, his eyebrows scrunching in confusion at the sudden change. His green eyes surveyed him questioningly, pleading for an answer.

“It seems the Prince wanted to take a detour today!” Nagisa quickly began to improvise, letting out a cheery laugh and calming the crowd easily enough.

Haruka never looked at Makoto. In fact, he made every point to not look at him. Alarm bells rang in the orcas head, and the minute Haruka made a sharp turn and started to surge the surface, he understood. And he became absolutely terrified. Green eyes widening, and a shout forming in his throat. 

 “Perhaps stormy weather is keeping him from his princess, but nothing will stop him from reaching her! Nothing but time it--“ Nagisa could not finish the line as Haruka soon leapt out of the water. He watched, in slow motion as the dolphin sprang out of the tank completely, landing with a thud on cement, a few feet from the pool. 

There was a tense moment of silence that lasted forever. Everyone was frozen. Rei, wide eyed to the side, Nagisa in the middle of the slide out stage, and the crowd quiet and in shock. Haruka did not move. He did not flop around. 

And suddenly everyone caught up with time as a killer whale surged out of the water in a fierce booming vocalization. The crowd started panicking and screaming, Rei dove to check for Haruka and Nagisa tried to think as fast as he could. Park employees started to try to calm the crowd down and herd them out of the area. 

Makoto reached the edge of the tank and start to scramble to get a purchase on the wet rough surface. His hands clawed at the cement, trying to pull his heavy body out. He managed to get his upper body up, but his tail remained dead weight to him in the water. 

“Haru! Haruka!” He called, reaching for the curled up, cetacean, lying only a foot or so away from him. What had he been thinking? Just jumping out like that? As if the ocean was just a jump away? How could he do that? How? “HARUKA PLEASE!” He shrieked desperately, hand flailing to try to grab his best friend--his more than best friend’s hand, or tail or fin or anything to drag him back into the water. 

“Rei! Stand back!” Nagisa ordered, running over to as close to the scene as he could. Half of the orca was out of the water, swinging his head wildly and snapping its jaws. Rei was dangerously close to losing an arm. 

“We have to help Haru!” Rei insisted, terrified at the fact that _Haru was still not moving_. His arc trajectory ended with him landing mostly on his head and side. He could be unconscious or worse. He was drying out. They needed to reach him they needed to reach him _now._

They were on opposite sides of the scene. Between them Haru lay unmoving, and Mako thrashed angrily. Nagisa wished he was next to Rei, to make sure he wouldn’t keep moving. But from this distance he was powerless to physically stop him. 

“Rei, we’ll get him don’t worry!” The blond pleaded, before swiveling back to grab the attention of one of the employees ushering guests out, “I need tranquilizers, now!” He ordered, watching as the man sped off obediently. 

Rei hung back as told, watching worriedly as Haru remained still, getting dryer by the second. Mako looked absolutely terrifying, and Rei wondered how anyone could possibly believe the had any semblance of control over such a creature. It felt almost like an insult to the cetacean. 

“Haru! Haru please! Wake up! Look at me! Wake up, please!” Makoto continued desperately, hands grasping at the air, always falling short of their target. He could feel tears streaming down his face. His stomach burned from the friction of the cement on the tender flesh. He wondered if he was bleeding. He didn’t care. “I’m sorry! I’m sorry...I couldn’t make you feel better. I should have thought of a better plan.” He whispered bitterly, never stopping in his futile straining. He felt a sudden sting in his back and whirled back to see Yellow staring at him with terrified eyes, and some sort of contraption in his shaky hands. 

He didn’t have time for this. He turned back to Haruka to find him blurry, “Haru! Ju-Just turn to me please! Just...grab my ha..nd...please.”  And everything seemed to cloud in darkness, and he found himself slipping back into the tank, weak and dizzy. 

Rei took the moment to lunge for Haruka and check for any vital signs. Nagisa called over the stretcher to move the animal to a smaller pool of water for treatment. 

“Now Rei, listen to me.” Nagisa tried to stay calm, as Rei looked like an absolute wreck. His assistant always seemed to tout being calm and collected and cool, but he seemed pretty fragile in a crisis, “Go with Haru and watch him alright. But I think he’s going to be just fine.”

Rei could only respond with a nod before rushing after the veterinarians. Nagisa let out a shaky sigh, wiping the sweat from his brow and turning to check on Mako.

The killer whale was floating listlessly. The drugs should keep him sluggish for a little while longer. He had made sure not to give him enough to make him unconscious. 

He watched the poor creature, trying ease his racing heart and calm down. The area was empty except for him and the animal. He was going to have to deal with the park administrators, the guests and the reporters. He would have to answer to a lot of people over this incident. 

“Mako...” He sighed, crouching near the pool. As sense of overwhelming sadness came over him as he realized there was no other way. Safety needed to be the priority. So in a whisper, he continued, “I’m sorry...but I don’t think you and Haru can be in the same tank any longer.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Eyy im back!  
> hope you guys still care  
> enjoy!


	14. Chapter 14

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which everyone is quite miserable, and Rin needs to buy a leash.

“Only 24 hours ago this scene was the site of crazed killer whale attack! The cutesy act came to a cruel end yesterday when Haru, star of the cross species hit show _Dolphino and Orcalette,_ tried to escape his tank, with his killer whale co-star hot on his tail. Professional Killer Whale trainer Nagisa Hazuki has assured the public that Haru is doing just fine and is in recovery and that the pair would remain separate from now on.” The news reporter spoke into her microphone, hands motioning at the empty area behind her. The stands were clear, and the show tank lacking any mammalian animal. However, the camera was tilted in such a way as too catch glimpses of the killer whale in the tank in the far back corner, swimming slow circles by himself. 

“I’m here with Dolphin Trainer Rei Ryugazaki, who was in charge of Haru when the disaster happened. Rei, how do you wish to explain such careless negligence in allowing two animals, one known to eat the other in the wild, in the same tank?” She continued, effortlessly, before shoving the microphone into the blue haired man’s face.

Rei stared at her, blinking many times before realizing he should probably be speaking. “F-Firstly, Mako is a very docile creature. He would never hurt another and he ob-obviously cared for Haru.” He wasn’t sure if he was supposed to look at the woman or the camera staring him down.

“Mako being the Killer Whale that just attacked Haru merely a day ago?” The reporter clarified, never missing a beat. This story was going to be a sensational hit.  

“Y-Yes but no. He did not attack him. Haru sprang out of the tank on his own, afterwards Mako moved to f-follow him.” He tried to explain as best he could. He wished he could stop his silly stuttering and unredden his face. He didn’t know how Nagisa was able to remain so calm and collected in front of the camera. 

“And you believe that?” The reporter scoffed at him. 

The glasses wearing man suddenly straightened up, frowning and staring into the camera, “Yes, in fact, I do. Haru was rescued after a shark attach, and it was reported a killer whale followed the boat for a long while before tiring out. Months later, a killer whale beaches itself on our shore. When he’s taken to our facilities, Haru immediately jumped into his tank upon sight. I just can not account all these things as simple coincidences.” He informed. 

“Are you suggesting, then, that your show _Dolphino and Orcalette_ is based on truth?” The reporter egged on, eating up this new fantastical twist to the story. Oh man this was her big break!

“Err, well, I mean, one could think that parts of it were based on truth, I suppose.” The glasses wearing man found himself returning to his stammering self. 

“Well, if the two are meant to be star-crossed lovers and all, would it not be cruel to keep them apart?” She was grinning, a sly seedy smirk at the idea of the story unraveling.

“Umm, yes I suppose but there is really nothing we can do at the moment because of Haru’s condition...” Rei argued weakly, because he himself believed the same. But he had to represent the company, not himself. 

“Now, its true that all of your other animals, excluding Haru and Mako who were supposedly rescued, were born in captivity, yes?” She continued, hammering down more nails to the coffin of the story.

Rei’s eyebrows scrunched together, “Err, yes, that’s true.”

“Then,” She took the microphone away, directing her closing statements to the camera and moving Rei out of the shot, “Perhaps it’s time they return home, together.” She smiled at the camera, “I’m Cecilia Simmons here with Channel 12. Back to you Charlie.”

Rei watched the camera turn around and waited until he was sure he was being completely ignored to quickly step away. He had a bad feeling about all this. He agreed with the reporter, they should be let free. This farce should end. But at the same time, no way was the park going to let two money making mammals out so easily. And this was his job. What was he suppose to do?

* * *

Rin blinked his eyes open blearily, growling under his breath at the incessant prods he was receiving. He finally lifted his head letting out a snarl, “What is it?!”

Nitori swam a bit back at the reaction, but he’d grown used to Rin’s style of abrasive speech, and soon hurried back and tugged on the others arm. “Mr.Rin--Mr.Rin come look!” He pleaded, pointing out of the crevice they had taken refuge in. 

Rin glared at him, “What do you want to show me?” He snapped, wrenching his arm back and raising a brow at his companion.

Nitori pouted, “I was out exploring--“

“That’s dangerous.” Rin interrupted. He’d grown quite protective of his new charge without meaning to. He’d learned throughout their time together that the kid was the same age as his sister, and was just as naive and curious. Although, much more timid in nature. And he had assumed responsibility. 

He’d be damned if he let anyone else get hurt.

Nitori let out a sigh, “You _have_ to see this!”  He insisted, grabbing at the shark’s arm once more and pulling him out of the cave. This time Rin allowed him, wiping the sleep from his eyes and following his friend deeper into the ocean.

He frowned as they swam further and further from the beach he’d made his prison. What the hell was the pilot fish doing swimming so far away by himself? He gritted his teeth, keeping his senses sharp and his eyes peeled for any sort of danger.

And then he heard them. 

He froze. 

Nitori grinned from ear to ear, “See! Look! There’s only two here but there’s a whole bunch of them! A pod right? I think they’re migrating!” He explained excitedly, bouncing around him. 

Rin swallowed thickly, watching from afar as the silhouette of two orcas swam past them in the distance. Their voices bellowing through the water without a care in the world., “Nitori, we have to get away from here.”

“What?” Nitori questioned, furrowing his brows, “But-But what if it’s your orca friend’s pod?”

“That’s even worse!” Rin hissed, quickly dragging the other backwards into the shadows as the orcas seemed to be swimming closer. Although, they had yet to be spotted. “Do you have any idea how protective they are of their own?”

“Exactly! So they’ll want to know what happened!” Nitori continued, “You can get closure!”

“If i tell them I lead their podmate to his death I’ll be dead in seconds.” Rin growled, “And I probably wouldn’t even be able to get that far. I’m a fucking shark Nitori what the hell are you thinking?!”

“Well, what if I go talk to them instead?” Nitori tried, his hands fidgeting as his brilliant plan got no recognition. Really, this could work! He could finally let go, and help his friend’s family let go too. They would all hug and maybe cry and then Rin would be happy again. Not that he had ever really seen the other happy, but he’d like to think at some point he was. 

“You are _not_ going anywhere near those predators.” 

Nitori crossed his arms, sighing forcefully through his nose and remained quiet.

“Tell me you wont.” Rin added, looking at his companion closely, “Swear ,you won’t.”

Nitori grumbled something under his breath before glancing his light blue eyes over in defeat, “I swear.”

* * *

Makoto didn’t know how long he was in that dizzying haze but once he snapped out of it he was sure of one thing. 

Haru was not with him.

He breached the surface of the pool, looking around wildly. It was dark. There was no one around. The crowd had left. Blue and Yellow were no where to be seen. And Haruka was gone. 

“Haru!” He started to shout, spinning around and shouting louder and louder with each non response. He was growing more desperate. He swam to the bottom of his tank and jumped up, trying his best to peer over the tall fence to Haruka’s old exhibit. He couldn’t get a good vantage point, but he liked to hope that if Haruka was there he would answer his calls. 

He fell back into the water and thrashed his tail angrily. He swam over to the edge Haru had jumped to, pulling himself out as far as he could to see if there was anything left over.

There was nothing. 

He slipped back into the pool in defeat, slamming a fist into the water before shielding his face with his hands. A chocked sob slipped through his lips as he sank to the bottom of his tank. His fingers dug into his visage, tears spilling from his eyes as tremors wracked his body.

He had left everything--everyone, he had come so far, he had _found_ him against all odds. Only to be left alone again. Makoto knew what isolation was like, he knew what it meant to be alone in the wide ocean. The hopelessness. The boredom. And now he didn’t have the distraction of the hunt to keep the crushing despair away. 

He was in a small pool and he was the only one to blame for being there. 

But Haruka was _gone_ and he might even be _dead_ and Makoto didn’t know how he could keep living with that knowledge. 

He didn’t know how he could keep going like this now.

He didn’t know if he even wanted to.

* * *

“How is he doing?” Nagisa murmured, stepping into the closed off waiting tank. Rei was crouched by the edge of the shallow pool, where Haru remained still. 

“They said he’ll be ok.” The blue haired man responded slowly, never allowing his gaze to leave the injured cetacean. Regret consumed him. 

He knew Haru had been acting erratically. He should have cancelled the show. He should have investigated it further. He shouldn’t have brushed it off. He should have done something. 

Haru was his responsibility and he had failed him.

Arms wrapped themselves around his neck and he stiffened. He felt the weight of a blond head on his shoulder and the tickle of the other’s breath on his neck, “None of this is your fault.” Nagisa soothed knowingly. 

Rei shrugged him off with little ceremony, letting out a long sigh, “How is Mako?”

“Distraught.” Nagisa answered with a pout at being rejected. He decided to sit beside the other instead, their knees brushing. This time, Rei didn’t move away. “He misses his friend.”

“So he wasn’t attacking Haru, right?” Rei asked suddenly, finally breaking his gaze from the injured mammal to look over at his companion. “Right?” He needed confirmation. 

“I could never see Mako do something like that.” Nagisa responded, cupping his own cheek with a hand  resting on his knee as he peered over at Haru closely.

“That reporter questioned me a few days ago.” Rei confessed. Nagisa blinked and looked over at him, expectantly, “I think she’s trying to stir up some public movement to release them.”

Nagisa’s eyes lit up, “Now it makes sense!” He cried out excitedly, grinning at the discovery. Rei raised an eyebrow at him, “I passed by the higher ups today. They were arguing about what to do with Haru and Mako, talking about a huge controversy and what not!”

“Don’t you watch the news? It’s everywhere.” Rei insisted, only to get a snort for an answer, “What do you watch, then?”

“Cartoons and anime.”

“I don’t know why I asked.”

Nagisa let out a loud boisterous laugh and Rei couldn’t help the smile that graced his own features. Nagisa grinned even brighter at the sight. It was such a rare find. He took the time to soak it in. Clapping a hand onto the others shoulder. He reveled in the fact it wasn’t shaken off. 

But Rei felt red at the attention and quickly looked away, “I think they’re right.”

“Who?”

“The protesters.” He answered, “We should release them back into the wild. I think they would be a lot happier.”

“Well, if we had it our way we could easily do that. But as of now...I mean...” Nagisa frowned in thought, bringing his hand back down. The sudden silence made Rei infinitely more curious. He waited patiently. “I mean...I might be able to convince them about Haru. We have plenty of dolphins. He’s always been difficult. We could use this incident to say he’s no longer listening? And that it would appease the public if we let him go?”

Rei nodded slowly, “But what about Mako?”

Nagisa let out a sigh, leaning his hands back and looking up at the metal ceiling, “I don’t know how to ever convince the bosses to release a healthy young _male_ orca. Their sperm is worth a fortune you know? It’d be financial suicide.”

“So you’re saying to give up on Mako!” Rei snapped incredulously, horrified. 

“Of course not!” Nagisa snapped, glaring at such a declaration, and it took Rei aback, “All I’m saying,” the blond continued, softer, “Is it’ll be a lot harder. Something will have to happen to outweigh the huge benefit. I just don’t know what that is right now.”

Rei nodded slowly at the explanation and the pair fell into a comfortable silence.’

Nagisa broke it after a few minutes, a wave of determination overcoming him, “But I’ll think of something you can count on that.”

Rei smiled.  

* * *

Rin opened his eyes and new something was wrong immediately. There were no jabs at his face. There was no high pitch voice rousing him from his restful sleep. There was only silence. 

The shark immediately got up and looked around the crevice they had basically made their home. No sight of his pilot fish. He slipped back out into the ocean, looking around to find empty waters. At least, empty of the one thing that currently mattered.

Rin gritted his teeth in annoyance. He constantly told the stupid fish to stay near him and not venture off. Wasn’t that the whole point of them traveling together? He muttered curses under his breath, swimming agitated circles as he looked around. 

And then he froze.

A terrible idea surfaced in his mind. 

He spun around to face the open ocean, dark and foreboding, and darted into its clutches in a terrified stride. 

Nitori was, just as Rin suddenly feared, swimming into the pod of orcas by himself. He didn’t agree with his friend. And he wanted to help him. He didn’t want him to be sad anymore, nor weighed down from the past. He wanted to free him. And he knew this would be the best way. No matter what the other said. 

He had found the fringe of the group, and he swam nervously, trying to figure out the best option he had to meet one of the cetaceans. 

Unfortunately, he was beaten to it.

Not one, but two, young orcas spotted him and swam over with broad curious smiles. Their teeth were much sharper than he had imagined. The pilot fish froze, and shrank back. The two orcas laughed. They seemed young. Younger than him. But they were already much bigger than him. They looked at him with amusement. 

One was male, with short brown hair and green eyes. The other was female, with an almost identical face but longer hair of the same shade. They had to be siblings. 

“What are you?” One asked, peering at him closer. 

The other pushed the cetacean back, to get a closer look herself and jab at Nitori’s tail, “Look Ren, it’s all stripes!” She exclaimed, tracing a hand along it, fascinated. 

Nitori shrank back further, “Please don’t touch me!”

The two orcas’ eyes widened and their smiles grew even further, “It talks!” They both cried, looking at each other deviously.

“What are you?”

“What’s your name?”

“Do you eat seals?”

“What’s your favorite color?”

“Are you a baby?”

“Where’s your mom? Our Mom’s with the pod. Don’t tell her we’re out so far!”

“Where’s your pod?”

“Have you ever killed a turtle?”

“Please!” Nitori cried out, “Please stop talking!” He pleaded for peace, and the twins looked offended, giving a pout but acquiescing, in hopes of receiving some answers. The fish let out a sigh of relief, “My name is Aichirou Nitori. I’m a pilot fish. I’m not a baby. And I don’t remember any of your other questions.” He answered carefully. 

The two cetaceans seemed to take in the information, and were about to barrage him with more when he quickly waved his hands at them to stop. They did.

“I have a question for you guys!” He explained and the two orcas’ faces lit up as if they were honored to be given the opportunity of an interview. They nodded encourangingly, eyes sparkling. “Is your pod missing anyone?”

They scrunched their eyebrows together, “Missing anyone?” Ren repeated, tapping his chin thoughtfully.

“They’re missing us right now.” Ran pointed out with a giggle. She got a jab in the side by her brother for the comment. It was still worth it. 

“No, I mean, has anyone left and not come back for a very long time?” Nitori regretted greatly not remembering the name of Mr. Rin’s orca friend. It would have made this so much easier.

The pair suddenly seemed crestfallen and hesitant. They shared a solemn look before turning back to the fish, “Brother left a long time ago.” Ren mumbled sadly, “He left to save Haru and never came back.” The sparkle seem to leave the two, and their shoulders drooped at the memory. 

“Was Haru an orca?” Nitori asked slowly, feeling he may just have lucked out in finding the perfect pod and perfect pair of orcas to tell.

“No! Haru was a dolphin!” Ran corrected matter of factly, “He was blue!”

Jackpot. 

Nitori couldn’t help the huge smile that took over his features, “Listen you two, I have to tell you--“

“Ran! Ren! There you are!”

The pilot fish froze, along with the two orcas who quickly turned around at the sound of their mother’s voice. They swam over to her happily, shouting a greeting. Nitori feared he had been forgotten. He had been so close too!

“You’re not supposed to venture so far from the pod!” She chided, smoothing down their hair lovingly. They shook their heads to rough it back up rebeliously. 

“Mama look! We made a new friend!” Ren stated instead, tugging her over and pointing at the striped fish. 

Nitori froze at the sudden attention. The large orca turned her gaze to him, scrutinizing him in confusion, “A new friend?” Her eyes then widened in recognition, “A pilot fish!”

“Yeah!” Ran agreed happily, only to suddenly be shoved behind her mother. 

“Pilot fish only mean one thing.” The orca muttered, scanning the area protectively. Said pilot fish was about to assure her that he was alone and that there was nothing to fear and that he had valuable information to give her--

“NITORI GET BACK HERE!”

“SHARK!” Ren screamed, pointing accusingly in the distance at Rin’s racing form. Racing straight towards them, sharp teeth bared and anger in its eyes. 

The two small orcas started to shake, and as the shark became closer Ran’s eyes widened in recognition, “Mama--Mama that’s the one! The one who hurt Haru! The one who made Mako leave!” She cried and the larger orca went absolutely rigid at the information.

“Ren, Ran, you get back to the pod this instant.” She hissed, and the pair didn’t think twice to follow the order, swimming rapidly away. They rarely heard the tone of voice from their mother. When ever she used it they knew to stay clear. The adult orca felt her hands ball into fists at her sides, teeth clenched and eyes narrowed at the beast that took her son away from her. 

Rin slowed down as he reached the site, seeing two small orcas dashing for their lives. It felt like deja vu. And then he saw the large orca before him. She was an adult. He swallowed thickly as she switched her powerful tail, his side stinging from the painful memory. His gaze followed up and settled on her head. She had long flowing brown hair and furious green eyes. 

And yet all Rin saw was Makoto’s face.

And it made him freeze. 

“You.” She seethed, eyes flashing dangerously, “You took my son.”

He gaped at her, backing up at the accusation because it was _true_. What was he supposed to say? She had the right to hate him. All the right in the world. Hell, he hated himself. 

But before he could even utter two simple words of apologies--two words that could never make up for the loss of a child but it was all he could do-- she lunged for him. He didn’t even try to dodge. He accepted it. At least he’d give her some retribution, some poetic justice. And what did he have left now?

He was suddenly pushed out of the way with a shout of his name, and he realized the one thing that he did have left had just saved his life. And he reeled around to see the fish slam into the rock wall behind him, bleeding profusely from his head and shoulder. 

The orca looked at the pilot fish in confusion, spinning around in search of her real target. Rin darted up, grabbing the dazed, wounded fish and hauling himself out as fast as he could. Adrenaline finally pumping through his veins at the sight of blood.Fish blood. _Nitori’s_ blood. “Nitori, are you _crazy_?!” he hissed, his voiced laced with worry as he looked back to see the orca chasing him with a vengeance. 

There was no way he’d be able to outrun her. And he searched desperately for some sort of hiding spot. But there was nothing but open water and Nitori was trailing so much blood they would certainly attract more company soon. The blood spilling into the ocean had memories he wanted so desperately to bury away back in that cave resurface in flashes. He wanted to curl up and hide from life forever. But he couldn’t stop swimming with cetacean biting at his tail.  

But then he received one more saving grace.

“Mama!”

The orca froze at the call, whirling around to see her daughter chasing after her, “Ran get back to the pod now!” She shouted quickly. She would not lose another one of her own to this awful shark. 

“Please don’t leave!” Was her only response, “Don’t leave like brother did!”

The words made her tense, until arms encircled her waist and a small head burrowed into her stomach. Her daughter shook, clinging to her in such desperation. Immediately, the mother held her baby close, hushing her soothing, “I’m right here. I’m not leaving. I would never leave.” She shushed softly, all the rage escaping her as she smoothed her baby’s long hair down.

She craned her neck around to see the shark long gone. A faint trail of blood slowly mixing in with the water left behind. She let out a sad sigh, and hugged her daughter closer. 


	15. Chapter 15

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> in which Rei and Mako have an experience and everyone is miserable

Rin stuck his head out of the small cave he’d quickly discovered, fearfully glancing around for the predator. Fortunately the waters were clear. Even more fortunately, the blood that seeped out of his dear friend had yet to attract anymore unwanted guests.

Yet.

He slipped back in to where he had laid Nitori down. The fish was breathing heavily, his chest heaving from the effort and the gills on his neck flapping wildly.

“Mr. Rin?” He gasped out hoarsely, eyes swinging around wildly. Or...eye. 

Rin swam over to the poor fish’s better side, “I’m here. I’m right here.” He hurriedly informed, biting his lip and wonderfully what the fuck he could do to help his friend. This couldn’t be happening. He couldn’t be losing another one. 

Nitori gave him the faintest smile, even while covered in his own blood. It made Rin sick. He gritted his teeth, feeling the tears pricking athis eyes, “Why?! Why the fuck did you do that?” He demanded in angry hiss. 

If Nitori could have turned his head away, he would have, “I...I couldn’t fail again.” He mumbled out, his fingers flexing idly by his sides. His good eye stared at the cave walls. He couldn’t bear to se Rin cry, especially over him. 

“You could have died!” Rin snapped, and the pilot fish visibly flinched. The shark let out a shaky sigh and lowered his voice, “I don’t even know how you made it out alive as it is...” 

“I’m not as big as you...I think she miscalculated.” Nitori laughed lightly, before letting out a whimper as the act shook his body slightly. He shuddered in pain, good eye squeezing shut and teeth clenching. Rin moved even closer to him, carefully wiping away at the blood on his face and torso. 

Nitori remained mostly silent, hissing ever so often in pain as the shark checked his body over for the thousandth time. “You’re going to live.” Rin decided more than confirmed, glaring down at the other through his tears. “I’ll fucking make sure of it.”

* * *

When he was cleared by the vet team, Haruka was taken back to his original small pool, where he finally awoke, dizzy and disoriented. He swam slowly around, trying to get his bearings. He was in his first tank. He realized that soon enough. He furrowed his brow in confusion. 

Had everything been a dream? Had Makoto been a dream? Had he imagined everything? The shows? The jump? The kisses? The warmth?

Did none of it really happen?

He held himself tightly at that unbearable thought. How much had he imagined then? Was he born in this tank? Had he always been here? Was the ocean just a delusion? Was there nothing beyond the fence? 

He was loosing his mind here. He felt sluggish and bruised. Swimming hurt. Everything made his head pound. What was he to do now? What was real anymore?

“Haru! You’re awake!” Rei cried, having just come to check on him as usual. He rushed to the edge of the pool, peering over at the cetacean he had been agonizing over. He was a sight for sore eyes. Sore, tired, sleep deprived eyes. 

He and Nagisa had been pouring over all of the company’s files and regulations for the past few days in search of some loophole to free the two dolphins. And, to be honest, it was mostly him pouring over the words while Nagisa whined and tried to distract and made grandiose appreciative statements about finally being invited into his apartment. But sometimes he cooked for him so he couldn’t entirely complain. 

The cetacean looked at him slowly before swimming away from him in uncoordinated movements. Rei frowned. He must still be effected by the sedatives in his system. The sight made him even more depressed about his charge’s condition, made him more determined to get him out. Haru looked awful, and waves of misery seemed to flow out from him with every twitch of his fins.

Rei heard the low guttural moan from behind the fence and grimaced that had now become familiar. A low sad mournful call that seemed to reverberate within him. Mako had become extremely vocal in his new isolation. Especially if he or Nagisa were nearby. It made his heart wrench to see him so obviously desperate for his dolphin companion. But he was powerless to end the suffering. There was no way they could let Haru back into the same tank. 

All Haruka heard was his own name, soft and sad and defeated, but loud enough to carry over to his own exhibit. He poked his head out from the water immediately, a sudden spark coming back into his eyes, “Makoto!” He shouted--or at least attempted to shout. His voice sounded hoarse and weak, but he heard his name through the fence again, louder and more excited. 

It wasn’t a dream. 

The relief that flooded the poor dolphin was instantaneous and made a small smile blossom on his tired face. 

“Haru! Haru, are you alright!? Did they hurt you! Why did you jump out? Haru!” Came a slew of desperate cries from beyond the fence. 

“I’m fine.” He responded, although he probably sounded awful. “I--I had to get out, Makoto.” He answered after a moment looking away as if the orca could see him through barrier, “I’m sorry.”

“It’s ok.” Came the immediate forgiving reply, and after a thoughtful moment the orca added, “Just rest, ok.”

“I....I’ll try...to jump again.” The dolphin instead informed ducking his head down into the water to build up some momentum. 

He ignored Makoto’s sudden urgent refusal for him to do so, and swam as fast as he could back to take his leap. It was a pitiful sight. He barely made it out of the water. Landing half out, his tail idly swishing the pool’s liquid edge while he grasped feebly at the concrete. 

Rei let out a loud cry, wondering if maybe Haruka was so depressed that he really did have an incessant death wish upon himself. They needed to accelerate their plan if the dolphin was going to live to the end of it. To his horror, the cetacean continue to struggle itself out of the water, snapping at him whenever he tried to push him back in.

He could hear a loud ruckus from the other side of the fence, splashing and vocalizations and he could have sworn he heard Nagisa bark an order, but the next moment the blond was beside him, trying to soothe the dolphin back into the pool. 

“What’s wrong with Mako?” He asked the blond, who stayed focus on the job at hand. Nagisa would prefer not to sedate the dolphin again. He urged him back into the pool slowly and carefully. 

Rei realized he wasn’t going to get his answer, and he understood why. He quite admired whenever Nagisa suddenly took his job seriously. How his face would grow sharper and more defined, how his eyebrows furrowed in concentration and determination. Not to say he didn’t love it when Nagisa was his happly bubbly self. He very much did love it.  Not love. Did he say love? That was weird. He meant liked.

He quickly backed away from the scene to investigate the orca himself. And to escape the weird thoughts he was having. But mostly the former. He slipped past the crowd of employees, and back into the orca exhibit where Mako seemed to have calmed down slightly. 

He wasn’t splashing around anymore. He just stayed by the edge of the pool occasionally calling out. 

Rei crouched near him, feeling terrible about the entire situation, “I’m very sorry about all this, Mako.” He tried with a sad sigh, “We’re doing our best to solve the problem.” He continued, wondering if the creature could even understand that he was trying to console him. 

Makoto ignored Blue completely, even as he crouched right by him. Instead, he focused on the fence, “Haru? Haru, are they hurting you? Haru, please answer me!” He shouted, his frown deepening with each second. “Answer me!”

He received no answer for his troubles. The silence began to gnaw at his brain and make him erratic once more. Why were they hurting him? Why were they keeping him away? Why were they keeping them in these pools? Why was all this happening?

His tail started lashing as a burning hatred started to echo within him. He had never felt such pure concentrated anger, such a drive to harm and destroy, to do anything, to just at least get Haru back. He gritted his teeth, clenched his hands into fists and narrowed his eyes at the world around them. 

He’d had enough. 

Blue whispered some more words to him, and it made him rear his head back and without even thinking lash out, grabbing the humans arm and hauling him in. 

Rei’s scream echoed throughout the exhibit until it was muffled by the water filling up his lungs.

He thrashed instinctively as he was dragged to the bottom of the tank, legs kicking feebly behind him. He’d lost his glasses in the chaos. He could only assume they were now sinking to the bottom of the pool.

Makoto panicked at the urgency and fear in the humans eyes as he pulled him down. He swished his tail, wondering what the hell he was doing. This was wrong.

_But they had taken Haru away._

The human’s movements were growing sluggish, and Makoto remembered they needed air to breathe just like him. He quickly swam up to the surface, breaching in the middle of the tank. He held up the human, making sure his head was above water mercifully.

Rei gasped out a breath, coughing up water, and using his free arm to push the bangs out of his eyes and squint around helplessly. His arm was firmly in the orca’s mouth, and he knew he was not getting out of this situation unscathed. Let alone if he could get out of it alive at all. 

There were people scattered around the edge of the pool, he could make out their blurry figures but he could not differentiate them. He continued hacking, and for a moment that was all he could hear. But soon it became clear that he was surrounded by a cacophony of worried calls. 

He recognized one shout above all the rest, “Rei! Rei, stay calm!” Nagisa yelled, doing his best not to panic himself. Nevertheless, his voice wavered from its normal cheerful bravado, “Don’t struggle! It’ll just excite him more!”

Rei nodded weakly, his throat burning from the water. He didn’t trust himself to speak. He hoped Nagisa saw the motion.

The blond made his own motion at his co-workers, who went to drop a net to cordon off the orca. They tried not to make it obvious nor threatening.

Makoto noticed. He remembered the nets from when they tried to take Haruka away the first time. The humans were screaming around him and the sound hurt his ears.He panicked again, his mind and nerves already as jittery as possible, and dived back down into the water, bringing the human with him. At least it was quieter down here. 

This time Rei held his breath, trying to keep as still as possible as pain surged from his arm at every movement by the orca. He felt dizzy and tired and it wasn’t long before his lungs strained to breath. He squeezed his eyes shut, trying to repeat some sort of math theorem in his head to keep him calm. Anything to keep his mind off of his body’s burning desire to get air. 

Although Makoto was currently terrified of what the humans would do to him since he’d taken one of their own, he didn’t want Blue to die. So at the site of the sudden involuntary escape of bubbles from his mouth he steadily rose up again to allow him to breathe. 

Rei sucked in the air greedily when they broke the surface, coughing and hacking but infinitely grateful. He hadn’t known how much longer he would have been able to hold on, but it seemed the cetacean did. How did the orca seem to know when he needed to breathe? How were they so smart? Why were they keeping him in oversized bathtub? Why had he taken this job? Why, why, _why_?

He rubbed the orcas head in an effort to soothe him, to maybe get him to let go of his arm. He didn’t know how many more near drownings he could take before he passed out completely. It was going to be very soon at this rate. The grip on his arm tightened at the sudden touch, and Rei let out the strangled cry of pain as he heard a hideous _snap_ and a sudden onslaught of unbearable pain. But the sound made the orca stiffen and let go completely.

Rei gasped at the sudden release of pressure, but made no sudden moves to leave the other’s side, lest he panic and grab him again. His arm hung uselessly at his side and he tried not to think of the pain clouding his vision. He needed to focus. 

“Rei!” He looked over dizzily at the call, hazily making out a yellow blur at the south edge of the pool. “Rei, follow along Mako’s body and get over this net!” 

Rei scrunched his eyes to try to see, but decided he would just trust the other. Weakly, he started to kick his way back along the orca’s body, running his good hand along the length of it. Mako remained blessedly passive.  In fact, Makoto was trying to calm himself down. Breathing in and out, pressing his hands into his temples, wondering what the hell he was thinking or doing. Replaying the fact _he’d almost killed Haru’s favorite human_ _in his panic._

Suddenly, he didn’t feel Blue anymore and he turned around. The human had let go of him in order to slip over the net. Makoto felt another wave of panic swirl in him as he whirled himself around and followed after the human, hearing a sudden crescendo of shouts from the humans around the pool. He didn’t want to be alone. He didn’t know what he wanted. He didn’t want this. 

Rei’s swimming became more hurried and desperate, legs kicking out and good arm trying to get him to where the familiar blond blur was becoming ever clearer. Luckily Nagisa grabbed at him, hauling him out of the pool himself and away from the dangerous edge as Mako swam relentless toward them, impeded only slight by the flimsy net. 

Rei was hacking and coughing, dizzy and lightheaded, weak but grateful. It took him a moment in his delirious state to realize Nagisa was talking to him, it took him another to realize he was crying. 

“Oh God, Rei! I wa-was so scared!” The smaller man sobbed, holding him terribly close, burying his face in his wet chest. Rei blinked, squeezing his eyes shut before taking his good arm to try and comfort the man clinging so desperately to him. 

“I’m fine.” He assured hoarsely and even attempted a smile. Now that the threat of drowning was out of the picture, the pain in his arm surged up with a vengeance and had to bite his lip to contain his pained noises. For Nagisa’s sake. 

“I thought you were going to die!” The blond continued nevertheless, sniveling, and pulling away to take a better look at him, “Oh God! Your arm!” He cried, carefully laying the blue haired man down. His entire body seemed to be shaking. 

“I’m assuming its b-broken.” Rei hissed, turning his head to continue looking up at Nagisa, as the paramedic on hand came over to look at him. He rather regretted that the other let him go. The hold he had was quite comforting. It was warm and grounded, not cold like the water’s deathly embrace.

Nagisa made no move to respond, taking a step back to let the professionals handle him. Regret started to pulse through. He had messed up. Completely and utterly. Why did he allow Rei to be beside the orca by himself? Even for only a few minutes? He was not trained for this. It was naive and stupid of him and could have cost the blue haired man his life. 

The blond wiped at the tears slipping so easily down his face, taking in a calming breath. They moved Rei onto a stretcher, hauling him out of the area. Nagisa did not hesitant to follow after, until one of the employees called for him. He looked over, impatient. 

“...What do we do about Mako?”

Nagisa looked down at the killer whale, who had now swam back to the middle of his enclosure, in an effort to get away from the commotion most likely. “Just...Just give him some space.” He sighed, “We’ll talk to the administration. Don’t answer any interviews from reporters. I’ll handle it.” He added after a thought before hurrying after the paramedics and away from this damned park. 

* * *

“Why? Why the hell did you go up to them.” Rin hissed, lying down beside his injured charged. His voice was void of its harshness, deflated in defeat. 

“I told you before, Mr. Rin.” The pilot fish answer easily, trying to be more cheerful. All things considered, he’d gotten off easy. Not many survived an orca attack and lived to tell the tale! His shoulder would heal soon enough anyway, it only throbbed when he moved and it had long stopped bleeding. His eye however...

He didn’t really want to think about the darkness of his left side. 

“I wanted to get you closure.” He continued, smiling up at the ceiling of their little cave. “And I almost did!” He added, triumphantly. “Those two orcas were your friend’s siblings! And the big one was their mother!”

“I gathered that when she was screaming at me.” Rin snorted, looking up at the ceilling as well. It hurt to look at the pilot fish. To see the gash on his face. To know he was the cause of it. It did not sit well in his stomach. Not at all. 

Nitori’s smile faltered slightly, “I...I really think we should go back.”

“Go back where?”

“To the pod.” Nitori answered timidly, waiting for the anger to come. To be yelled at again for his own idiocy.

There was no anger. Only silence. That fact made the fish turn his head curiously, allowing his good eye to peer over at the shark.

Rin didn’t turn to face him. His red eyes glared at the rocky ceiling above him. His fists were clenched at his sides. He looked like he was barely hanging on and worry flashed in grey eyes, “Mr. Rin?!”

“Why.” Was the soft hiss, “Why do you want to tempt death again? Why the hell did you want to be my friend if you were just gonna throw yourself into harms away for nothing?”

“Mr. Rin...”

“Stop calling me that.” The shark spat, “Just call me Rin.” He added. He felt a touch on his arm and finally looked over to see the pilot fish curling his arms carefully around his own, mindful of his injuries. 

He looked down at him, confused. 

“You deserve happiness, Rin.” The fish responded, and Rin felt his heart skip a beat at the statement. He still didn’t believe it. The fish continued undeterred, “You deserve closure. But so do they.” He added firmly, “They lost a brother, a son.”

All Rin saw was his sister, her loving face, her caring eyes, her long beautiful red hair. Her positivity, her warmth, her patience. He shuddered. And then he saw the mother orca’s face. The torment in her green eyes, the sadness and desperation of her form as she chased them. 

He let out a long sigh, “We’ll...We’ll figure something out.” He finally decided, hesitantly allowing the other to rest his tired head on his shoulder. 

 


	16. Chapter 16

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Haru regrets swimming free

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> lol sorry for being gone forever here you go  
> u can yell at me at my tumblr findingschmomo.tumblr.com

“We’re here outside of the once beloved Marine Park, now the site of a vicious legal battle. Behind me you can see the line of protesters waving their signs calling for Haru and Mako’s, the stars of the once popular _Dolphino and Orcalette_ show, freedom. Protesters wish them to be returned back to the sea, from where they were rescued months ago.” Cecilia Simmons reported, standing outside the park entrance, the camera perfectly capturing the protesters to her left, and the cold building to her right. 

“More drama has aroused from the story as the killer whale Mako, once thought to be perfectly docile by one of his own trainers, recently attacked the very same trainer. Rei Ryugazaki was dragged into the pool and almost drowned twice by the terrible creature. Luckily, he survived the incident but hospital reports say his arm is severely broken. This begs the question, can these facilities even handle killer whales?”

She moved over to one of the protesters, allowing them into her camera shot, “Excuse me Madame, what’s your name?” She asked politely before offering the mike to her interviewee.  

“M-My name is Miho Amakata.” The women responded, nodding her head politely. 

“And why are you out here today?” Cecilia probed. 

“I, I mean we, believe that Haru and Mako deserve to be returned back to their homes. They have clearly been traumatized from being ripped away from their families and deserve better than this treatment. Dolphins are as smart as us! We should not treat them this way. It is like the great Shakespeare once said---“

“Alright,” Cecilia interrupted, taking back her mike and moving the camera so she again was the center of the frame. “I’ve just gotten reports that the administration has made a decision. Ah, Nagisa Hazuki, the head killer whale trainer and one specifically in charge of Mako is coming out now. Let’s see what he has to say.”

Nagisa blinked as a microphone was immediately shoved into his face, looking up at the camera. He gave the viewers a smile, although it was rather forced, before beginning, “The administration has decided to release Haru back into the wild. And will do so promptly. More information will be released to the public.” He recited carefully. 

There was a loud swell of cheering from the protesting crowd. But Cecilia was not distracted from lengthening the constantly exploding story, instead she kept the microphone in front of the blond and continued, “And what about Mako?”

“In light of the recent incident, his fate is still being discussed.” Nagisa replied.

“The recent incident being the violent attack on Mr. Ryuugazaki.” The reporter clarified. 

Nagisa swallowed, “Yes.” The blond answered curtly. He seemed tense, smile strained.

“You and the victim seemed quite close. How are you faring in light of the recent episode?” Cecilia pressed, catching on to the body language and latching on. Anything to make the story juicier. She could smell her promotion to co-anchor on the horizon. 

“Rei and I worked the same shows. He is a dear friend of mine and he is doing fine in the hospital.” Nagisa tried to force on another cheerful smile, no matter how painful it was to recollect the memory. For once he didn’t want to play in front of the camera. In fact, he just wanted to go _see_ the blue haired man in the hospital. 

“Do you feel at all responsible, being in charge of Mako and unable to prevent such a horrible event from occuring.” She goaded on, eyeing him closely. 

Nagisa’s eye visibly twitched, “I’m sorry but I need to return to the deliberations! It was nice speaking with you!” And he quickly escaped back into the building, letting out a sigh of relief. He glared at the ground, smile dropping completely from his visage. What a prying asshole, he thought, huffing at the ground. 

He checked the clock. Only a half hour more until work ended, then he could visit Rei in the hospital and give him the good news about Haru. Hopefully he would be awake and able to hear him out. Hopefully he’ll be discharged soon. Hopefully.

* * *

Swimming and hunting was a lonesome chore once more, as Nitori was forced to stay within their makeshift cave until he recovered. Rin insisted on the fact. Although, the pilot fish was none too happy with this arrangement. He tried his best to argue he was safest beside Rin, but the shark never wavered on his decision. 

As such, Rin found himself hunting alone. Well, he supposed, it wasn’t as lonely as before. At least he had someone to return to, at least he had someone to hunt for. He ventured away from the beach and the humans populating its sandy shores to find suitable prey. 

He didn’t dare stray too far, as the pod of orcas still remained in the area. He could see a couple of them in the distance, and he slowed his pace. He knew what Nitori wanted him to do. To somehow go up to them and inform them their son was most definitely dead, or at the very least, trapped forever in a human amusement park. But the pilot fish was naive because such a statement would have him killed, just showing himself would have him killed. 

And so he kept clear of the large family group. 

At least he tried.

Something did keep him looking back over. Something kept him searching through the pods members. Something kept him surfacing above the water to get a better view. 

And that something wasn’t Nitori’s words. 

It was Makoto. 

Catching glimpses of Makoto’s family made his heart throb. He could see him in their faces, in their mannerisms. Watching the orcas breach the water’s edge, and seeing the younger members doing the occasional jump only made him remember his lost friend. 

He hated himself for lingering at the pod’s edge to indulge in his self misery. 

However, this certain day, he made a conscious decision to keep away from the pod and the deeper waters. He would hunt closer to the beaches edge. He could deal with humans. Humans only incited anger. He was comfortable being angry. Sadness was an entirely different story. 

* * *

 

“Hey, Haru.” Nagisa murmured, crouching by the others waiting pool. The dolphin looked up at him, swimming slowly toward him. “Today’s the big day.” He informed sadly, patting the cetaceans head. 

Haruka looked up at his blond trainer slowly, wondering what the other wanted from him. He had been moved from his small pool to an even smaller one. He hated it but had lost all will to show it. He didn’t swim. He simply floated listlessly, wondering if this was all that was left of his future. 

He missed Makoto the most. 

He regretted everything. 

He could have stayed with Makoto if he had not jumped out of the tank. They could have remained together. Sure they would still be in this hell, but at least they would be together. He longed for the others touch, for his warmth, for his lips, for _him_ in his entirety. 

His last memory of him was his desperate calls of his name, and the thought only made him hurt worse. He had made Makoto feel such pain. It was all him. Maybe he was being completely selfish. Makoto deserved better. 

Still, he knew, if he were to go back he would always end up doing the same. He couldn’t just keep swimming in the water prisons. He wouldn’t be able to stand it. He couldn’t stand it. 

But now, now he had officially given up. 

It seemed he would be forced to wallow in these tanks for the rest of his miserable life. Alone. 

He sank down to the bottom of his little pool, broken in more ways then one. However, his trainer didn’t seem to be done with him, and called for him to return to the surface.

Haruka let out a long sigh before obediently surfacing and looking back up at Yellow. He wondered why it wasn’t Blue with him. The thought didn’t bother him for long, because he soon felt a sharp pain in his side, and then everything seemed to blur. 

“Don’t worry, Haru. When you wake up, you’ll be free.” Nagisa soothed, rubbing the other’s head after giving the cetacean its sedative. 

* * *

Makoto did not see many humans after the incident. He didn’t really see anyone. Only at feeding time did a random trainer venture over to throw fish at him. He did harm one of their own. He supposed he deserved the solitude. 

There were no more shows, or head pats, or whistles. There was no more Blue or Yellow. There was no more Haru. There was only him. 

He hated it.

It was worse than his lonesome journey before meeting the sharks. At least then he could _do things_. He could hunt, he could swim, he could search out. He had a goal. A silly, naive goal but a goal none the less. 

Here, he had nothing. 

He floated listlessly in his prison wondering if this was it. If he was doomed to squander his life away in this pool of water not fit for his size. A wave of regret consumed him. Why didn’t he stay with his family? Why didn’t he stay with Rin and Gou? 

Haruka flashed across his mind and he held his hands to his face.

Because, he knew he would do it all over again if faced with a future without the dolphin. He was everything to him. He was his guide through the darkness, he was his peace in fearful times. He truly loved him. He knew that now. 

Haruka had not called for him since the commotion a few days prior. In fact, he had remained eerily silent. He continued his own calls until giving up after a day of no responses. Sometimes he’d shout out his name in a futile attempt when a new hope swelled within him but it was becoming increasingly more obvious the humans had taken him away. 

He did not know where, and he did not know for how long, but Haru was gone. The thought used to make the anger flow through his veins until the incident with Blue. Since then, he only felt hollow inside. 

* * *

“Are you sure you’re allowed to go?” Nagisa asked, frowning at his coworker’s appearance. Sure, he had hoped the man would be able to attend the event, but he didn’t want his condition to worsen. 

Rei waved the other off with his good hand, “I’m fine.” He insisted. The blue haired man had suffered major broken bones within his right arm, but surgery had rectified the problem. He was now clad in a bright purple cast--apparently he had insisted on the color. The though made the blond smile. 

“But you’re not supposed to get casts wet!” Nagisa insisted with a pout before ducking away into one of the cabinets of the work room they were in. Rei looked over at him  as he pulled out a plastic bag. 

“Nagisa, don’t! That’s not beautiful at all!” He cried, as the smaller man wrapped the item around his cast. He grimaced at the sight but the blond merely smiled in triumph, giving an approving nod. 

A man knocked at the door and the pair glanced up at his appearance, “Haru’s been moved to the van. We’re going now.” He informed. Nagisa gave a nod, looked over at Rei, before heading out of the room. Rei gave one last glance in the direction of the orca exhibit before following suit. 

They decided to ride in the back with the sedated dolphin, pouring water over him every few minutes during the short ride to the coast. The beach had been quartered off to keep people away from disrupting the release, and to keep Haru more calm. This didn’t stop the many supporters from crowding along the edges to sneak a peak.

As they exited the van Nagisa caught sight of the nosy reporter and hoped she’d remain back where she was. He decided not to dwell on it as he helped his coworkers move the stretcher out of the van and onto the sandy shore. 

Rei stood on, unable to offer any help and feeling very useless. At the same time, he felt a rush of regret at this entire endeavor. He would miss the dolphin. He would miss him a great deal. But this was for the best. Haru would die if kept in captivity any longer. 

“He’s waking up!” 

Rei immediately rushed over, seeing the dolphin beginning to stir and blink its bleary eyes up at him. He smiled down at the cetacean, letting his good hand rub his head soothingly. “Hey....Haru...”He murmured, feeling his eyes start to water. “You’re gonna be free soon.” He continued, pulling his arm back only to wipe at his eyes. He was in front of his coworkers. It was no time to cry like this. It was too late though, he was crying like an utter baby. 

Haruka peered at Blue, who seemed a lot closer than usual. He felt dry, and as he squirmed a bit more, realized he was not in water. Normally, this would have led him to start struggling wildly, but he did not care anymore. He simply continued to stare up at Blue, motionless, quiet and mostly tired.

He hadn’t seen the human in quite some time. Purple caught his eye and he looked at the mysterious rapping on the others arm. He felt a tinge of sympathy swell through him at the sight, and it made him reach out and touch it. The plastic around it crinkled, and Blue seemed taken a back. 

Haruka wondered if he had scared him with his sudden action, and slowly pulled his arm back. But Blue only seemed to smile bright, and ruffled his hair. The dolphin closed his eyes, letting out a sigh. Was this it then?

And then he felt it, water lapping lightly at his forehead. That, in it of itself wasn’t odd, but the rhythmic motion, back and forth, made his eyes widen. Familiarity. Longing. He scrambled to turn over to lie on his stomach rather than his side, staring out into the wide blue horizon. 

The ocean. 

Without another thought he started to scramble toward its edge. meeting no resistance from the humans surrounding him. He felt the water nipping at his arms, the tide seeming to pull him in welcomingly. As if to say, _welcome home, Haru._ He wanted to cry. He ducked his head underneath it’s waves and finally submerged his entirety into its depth. 

For a moment he floated there. Wondering if this was real, or if he was simply dreaming and would wake up again in the hell hole of his home. But as time passed he realized this was no dream. This was real. Completely and utterly real. 

He started to swim, fast and unabated. No walls to keep him contain. The water swirled around him, flowing and ebbing, and _alive_. He felt so alive. He couldn’t help the laugh that burbled out of his chest. When was the last time he _laughed_? 

He surged up to the break of the ocean and flung himself into the air, doing an impressive double flip and catching sight of the humans back on shore. He blinked and swam back to the shallow waters toward them, careful not to get to close. 

He saw Blue and Yellow waving at him, and swished his tail in return. The water splashed at the humans, and Blue seemed to squawk while the other simply laughed and shouted goodbyes. Haru nodded at them. They had been good humans. Annoying, but good. They gave him fish. They let him go. He would remember them. 

He flicked his tail out at them again, a smooth subtle motion before submerging himself down low and swimming out into the sea. That would be enough. Now he had to catch up for lost time. To feel the water flow past his fins at speeds, to travel the great distances of the world. He needed to go home. 

And then he froze.

 _Makoto_. 

Makoto was home.

Makoto wasn’t here though. 

He swerved back toward the shore, racing back to the humans who seemed to be packing up. He stopped short of beaching himself, splashing and wondering what to do. 

A sense of dread soon overcame him at the realization that Makoto was still trapped in the human prison. That he wouldn’t be getting out. _Makoto,_ who had beached himself to reach the dolphin in that hell hole, was still imprisoned. 

Haruka stared at the shoreline, heart hammering in his chest and palms clammy. Makoto had swam the ocean to find him. Makoto had sacrificed himself on the slim chance of being with him. 

Makoto was still there. 

Makoto would do it all again in a heartbeat. 

But Haruka couldn’t. 

The more he stared at the shoreline, the more he felt paralyzed. He knew what lay in those walls. The boredom, the meaninglessness, the isolation. And he couldn’t put himself at jeopardy of returning to those claustrophobic walls. 

He couldn’t do what Makoto had done for him. 

And the thought made him hate himself. He took in a shaky breath and dove down into the depths, holding his face in his hands as he trembled all over. 

He was so weak. 

He was so selfish. 

He didn’t know what to do. He took in shaky useless breaths, feeling worthless. Guilty. Empty.

Alone. 

And then suddenly, he was thrown roughly into the rock wall, air bubbles knocked out of him. He heaved, flailing weakly as he was forcefully pinned down, nails digging into his arms and sharp teeth inches from his neck.

Not alone, on second thought.


	17. Chapter 17

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Haruka meets a shark and reunites with the family he never realized he had.

Blue eyes widened, and whirled around, as they were met with shocked red. Instinctively, the dolphin struggled, but he was caged by the shark before him, who’s hands rested firmly on the rock wall on either side of his head. Recognition hit him like a wave, and a phantom pain shot through his arm. 

“You.” Haru hissed, blue eyes glaring, ready to smack the predator away with his tail and dive for freedom. Anger coursed through him at meeting the creature who had caused all of his misery. It was _all_ his fault. All of it. He’s the one who took him away from Makoto. “ _You._ ” He snarled, grabbing one of the hands holding him captive and pushing him back, teeth flashing, eyes narrowed, ready to fight, ready to _kill._

  _Makoto._

What was the point without Makoto?

The fight within him seemed to drain almost immediately at the sudden thought. His body drooped, falling back onto the rock wall behind him in a thud. He dropped the hand he’d had in a death grip, letting his arm fall, much to the shark’s own surprise. Haruka fell limp against the rock. He was so tired. Maybe this was fate. Maybe he was _supposed_ to have died by that shark. He’d just been delaying the inevitable, dragging Makoto down with him. Well, fine then. 

“Dolphin boy giving up already?” The shark sneered, looking down at him with glinting red eyes. It was a taunt. It was obvious. But Haruka simply didn’t care anymore. 

“Just kill me already.” He whispered softly, straining his head up and to the side, offering up his neck as a prize. His eyes were glazed over, caught in a memory.  

The shark froze, and Haruka could have sworn he saw the beedy red eyes twitch slightly. The lips formed a growing snarl, “What?”

“Finish the job. Kill me.” The desperate _please_ was implied, but Haruka still had an inkling of pride to omit it. In a few minutes he might even lose that.

Haruka expected to be met with a lot of pain right then. Teeth ripping into his body, claws tearing at his skin, the crunch of his bones. He expected to feel the blood poor down from his throat and stain the water around him. He expected his vision to darken into nothingness, until _he_ was nothingness.

He didn’t expect the sudden stinging slap to the face.

He reeled back, shocked, slamming his head into the rock behind him. He gasped, hand shooting up instinctively to clutch at the reddening skin of his cheek. He blinked, scrunching his eyebrows up in confusion as he finally looked up at the shark with the silent question of _why?_

“How fucking _dare you_.” Were the words he was met by, as the shark snapped at his face. Haruka flinched, but remained otherwise quiet. Eyes looking up at the shark fearfully. The entire situation was beyond him now. He felt small. He felt loss. He just wanted to die. _Why_ couldn’t he die?

“How fucking dare you,” The shark repeated, glaring daggers, “Give up like this after all the shit Makoto went through for you!”

Haruka froze, eyes widening and mouth gaping open in shock. His heart stopped. How?

He reached out for the furious fish, grasping his arms and clinging to him, gasping out a desperate, “Makoto?” 

* * *

Rin had been swimming alone, searching for a meal to share with his injured companion. He was growing impatient, the fish seemed to be avoiding him much better today. How aggravating. He peeked his head above the waves, noticing a commotion on the beach. 

Odd.

The beach had become largely deserted due to his efforts. Even when he stopped his constant terrorizing in the advent of Nitori’s companionship, most humans continued to steer clear. Still, many had now gathered at the edge, and many more were a ways off watching and waving signs.  

Rin kept his distance. Humans never brought good news. His sister flashed in his mind and he willed the memory away. It was getting easier to do so, thankfully. His heart didn’t clench as much. Still, he didn’t want to risk anything. He refused to endanger Nitori. 

He deserved better. 

It was with that thought that he turned away. He’d have to hunt deeper out in the water, away from the annoying commotion. But, at that moment, there there was a sudden crescendo of cheering and splashing. Against his better judgment he looked back to see a blue gray tail slipping into the ocean. His eyebrows furrowed, only to shoot up his face when the owner of said tail jumped out of the ocean in a gleeful jump. 

His eyes widened. 

A dolphin.

A huge grin spread across his features at the sight. He had never been happier to see a dolphin near him. Even one doing fucking flips. He almost did a flip himself---or at least a jump. But that made him long for better times and his mind came back to Makoto. 

It did that a lot. 

He looked back over to the beach expectantly, waiting for the orca to emerge. He had to. That _had_ to be the damn dolphin boy, so Makoto _must_ have succeeded, and he would swim into the ocean and everything would be slightly better. He waited.

But as time passed and the humans started to leave, and the dolphin sank back down into the water, Rin’s hopes began to fade. 

And when they finally drove off completely, Rin was left by himself. 

Again.

Makoto wasn’t coming back. 

He slammed his fist on the water, angry he’d ever even raised his hope for the slimmest of odds. Makoto was probably dead anyway. He hissed in a breath through gritted teeth and blinked his eyes furiously. He ducked his head back down in the water. He needed to find some damn food for Nitori. To hell with all this. 

But then he spotted the dolphin again, seemingly frozen, hovering below the surface, staring at nothing. A sudden fury overcame him. He didn’t get Makoto back, he got the stupid dolphin that ruined all of his chances from the get go. Without another thought he dove for the dolphin, anger and hatred guiding him as he slammed him ferociously into the wall. 

At first the dolphin struggled, but then fell limp before the shark. And the he uttered the words Rin had told himself over and over again for the longest time now,

“Just kill me already.”

_I don’t care anymore_ the shark heard reverberated in his head.

So Rin slapped him as hard as he could, snarling, because all he could see was Makoto’s shining eyes as he recounted how important this dolphin was and how he would do anything to get him back. All he saw was his sister’s warmth and happiness, exuding off of her as she spoke of their gallant mission. 

And here was the dolphin himself, wanting to give up after they had done so much for him. 

Rin had given up almost everything for him. 

He couldn’t stand it, “How fucking dare you give up like this after all the shit Makoto went through for you!” He snapped.

The dolphin in turn looked shocked, tensing at the statement, “Makoto?” He repeated, then seemed to grow more animated, darting closer, “How do you know Makoto?”

A flash of hurt came over the angry red eyes. Did Makoto not tell him about him? Was it because of that stupid kiss? Were they not friends? Was he not important enough? He’d crossed the damn ocean with him!...Or maybe Makoto had simply died on that beach. Alone. And never reunited with his dolphin boy...“My name’s Rin, I bro--“

“You’re Rin!” Haru shouted, eyes widening, and Rin couldn’t help the smirk and relief that over came him. He was remembered. He did matter. But then he tensed. 

“So you _have_ spoken to Makoto?” Rin asked quickly, seizing the other again, “Where is he? He’s alive right? Is he ok? Why the hell are you even out here?”

Haru tensed up from the touch, trying to shy away. He didn’t like others being so touchy feely with him. This shark wasn’t Makoto. He was a stranger, a stranger who had once almost ended his life, and he would rather keep his distance. 

He pried the hands off him, looking away solemnly at his interrogations. “The last time I saw him he was...ok.” Except for the fin, he reminded himself bitterly. The dolphin paused then, “He’s still there...In the park. I-I don’t know why I’m here. I don’t know why he’s still there.” He confessed, glaring at the water. 

Rin growled under his breath, turning his gaze back at the god forsaken prison the humans had on land. The beach was completely deserted again. He closed his eyes, biting his lip before grabbing the others arm again and pulling him away. 

Haruka struggled against the grip, “Let go!” He demanded, trying to wrench free, even when the shark dug his claws. 

“Stop your struggling. I’m not letting you out of my damned sight. We’re getting Makoto out of there, and I’m going to need your help!”

To those words Haruka fell silent, allowing himself to be dragged passively away from the shore, away from Makoto, by the predator. He didn’t know what to do. He felt so lost without his companion. He felt so lonely.

The open ocean was no different than a pool, if Makoto wasn’t there to hold his hand. 

His thoughts evaporated as he was shoved into a small cave. He blinked as the shark let go of him to swim over to an injured fish. 

Haru fidgeted at the sight, trying to think about what Makoto had told him about the shark in his travels. He didn’t seem to like to dwell on the subject, and kept his story vague on details. Still, he did remember one thing, “Is that your sister?” 

Rin froze, hand clenched, “No. She’s dead.” He gritted out. Haruka looked away, apologetic. The shark continued, “This is Ni--Ai. My friend.”

The fish--a pilot fish the dolphin realized--seemed to beam at the response, eyes shining and face reddening at the words for reasons beyond the dolphin. The fish waved at their new guest politely. He seemed a little out of it and from the large wound on his face, had every reason to be. 

“What else do you know about me?” Rin demanded more than asked, turning his attention to the mammal after making sure Nitori was fine. Well as fine as he could be. 

“You helped Makoto travel here. You hunted with him. You became friends.” Haruka listed in his monotone, not seeing the importance of the discussion. 

Rin seemed disappointed, “Is that all he told you?” He probed, and Haruka scrunched his eyebrows together. 

“Is there anything else?” He countered. 

Rin shrugged, looking away, “It’s not my place to say.” He finally decided, which only made the dolphin frown more. Still, apparently Haruka wasn’t the type to pry and slunk off to a corner curling his tail closer to him and watching them distrustfully. 

Rin ignored him in favor of Nitori, but his eyes kept wandering back over to their new guest. This was him. This was the dolphin he swam leagues for. This was the creature that somehow captured Makoto’s heart. This was the boy he risked his life for. 

He couldn’t fathom why. 

What a disappointment.

He didn’t talked, unlike Makoto’s incessant chatter; he didn’t smile, unlike Makoto’s ever-present grin. Was this really the ‘Sweet Haru who’s hand fit so perfectly in mine’ that he’d heard of over and over again?

This was the kid he had lost to. 

He blinked when Haru suddenly moved from his silent post, swimming past him and out of the cave, “The fuck are you going!” He shouted at him, but Haru had decided to ignore him, in favor of rising above the water’s edge to breathe. 

Well that was one thing he had in common with the orca that he could never have. He rolled his eyes. 

“Rin...” 

He spun back around to the pilot fish who called for him weakly. The striped fish sat up with difficulty, resting his back on the cave wall and giving a strained smile to ease Rin’s obvious worry. 

“Is it still hurting? I got distracted lookin’ for food but I can go back and try to find some more.” The shark interrupted, swimming closer to the other. Nitori smiled and waved him off. 

“That’s the dolphin friend isn’t it?” The fish continued, receiving a slight nod, his smile brightened, “Maybe he can talk to the orcas for you?” Nitori supplied, good eye closing as he smiled tiredly.

And Rin froze. His red eyes widened. And then he grabbed the smaller boy suddenly, flashing a large sharp toothed grin. Nitori couldn’t help the shiver that ran down his spine at the sight. Maybe from the pain. Maybe from something else. 

“Ai you’re a genius!” He cried, whirling back around just in time to see Haru entering the cave slowly himself. 

He then grabbed the dolphin without warning, shouting a quick goodbye to the fish as he dragged Haruka out into the open water. Said dolphin struggled, growling out questions of this new kidnapping. He was not a fan of being dragged around. He was not a fan of being grabbed. He kinda just wanted to be alone. And think. And swim. And regret.  

“I need you to do something.” Rin explained quickly, letting him go as they reached deeper water and the struggle became too much. Haru glared at him, rubbing his reddening arm. He seemed to be waiting for more information so Rin continued, “Makoto’s pods here. They won’t listen to me cause I’m a fuckin’ shark. But they’ll listen to you. You gotta tell them what happened!” 

Haru’s blue eyes widened, and he seemed to shrink back from the request. “Makoto’s pod?” He repeated in disbelief. He never thought he’d ever see them again. 

Rin tugged him over to where he had last spotted the mammals, and found them just as expected. A majority of them seemed to be swimming around only a few yards away. The pair ducked behind a rock.

“Ok, so go, swim over there and tell them where Makoto is.” Rin whispered easily, blinking at the other expectantly. 

“...No.” Haru muttered, staring down at the rock. He poked at it.

“Wait, what?” Rin looked over at him, eyebrows furrowed, teeth glinting. Haruka hunched his shoulders together, nibbling his own lip.

“I can’t tell them he’s still trapped. Because of me.” He hissed, never making eye contact. 

“Aren’t you a part of the pod too?” At least, Rin had always assumed. He still was pretty iffy on how the whole group living thing worked to be completely honest. 

Haru seemed to hesitate, “I was just Makoto’s friend.” He decided, turning his head toward the now distant shore, “There’s no place for me there without him.” He added, after a thought. The pod as a whole never really paid him any attention. They just tolerated his presence. He had always been on good terms with Makoto’s personal family, but he was a poor replacement for their son. He hugged himself as his heart clenched. 

Rin stared at him, “Are you fucking kidding me?” He snapped, grabbing the dolphin once more and hauling him up, “Do you know how many time’s I’ve been attacked by an orca just by hanging around? And you won’t go because they’ll fuckin hate you or some bullshit. Get your tail over there and tell them he’s alive! I’m pretty sure they’ll appreciate it!”

Before Haruka could even argue, he had been roughly shoved out into the open dangerous waters. He sent a deadly glare at the shark, but let out a calming sigh and cautiously turned toward the pod. This was, in fact, on closer inspection, Makoto’s pod. The shark wasn’t lying. He could recognize many of the faces swimming about before him. None of them paid him any attention. 

They didn’t matter, though. He was searching for a select few. 

He was looking for smaller orcas, two identical children he knew best. But he couldn’t catch sight of them. 

“Ren!” He finally shouted, desperately, “Ran!” swirling around as he ventured closer and closer to the pod. Suddenly, one of the orcas took notice of him. His eyes widened in understanding and he hissed back at his companions because _wasn’t that the dolphin the shark ate_. 

Before Haru could even realize he had been spotted,he had been surrounded by a majority of the pod, with no where to run or hide. He had never liked being the center of attention. He swallowed but stood his ground. None of them spoke directly to him, only speaking about him as they circled in curiosity, because could it really be true?

And then two cetaceans squeezed their way through until they could attach themselves to Haru with such glee. Haruka realized his mistake then and there. They had grown _so much_ since he had last seen them. They were practically as big as him. 

“Haru!” Ran and Ren shouted in unison, hugging him close and trembling. Haruka couldn’t help the soft smile that brightened his face as he much more calmly hugged the pair back. His heart hurt. He didn’t realize how much he had missed them. 

“Haru is ok!” Ren cheered, wiping at his teary eyes. 

“But where’s Makoto? Makoto went to find you! Where is he?” Ran added, looking up at the dolphin expectantly.

Haruka hesitated, “...I need to speak to your parents.” And with very little ceremony he was ushered through the pod toward his target. The orcas, for the most part, let them have their distance, though there was a great big hum of excitement and gossip about them. 

Ren kept close, hugging his arm tightly, and looking around. Haru wondered how long he had been gone, the days and weeks and months had all blended together into the dullness of forever. Yet, the twins were now as big as he, although they clung to him just the same as when they were tiny. 

Ran swam up ahead calling for her mother and father until finally the former emerged. 

“Ran, what’s wrong?” The mother cried, rushing over and scooping her daughter up. She looked around and froze at the sight of the ghost before her. 

Haruks fidgeted. He wasn’t sure what to say. He wasn’t the son they were most surely dying to see. He was just a dolphin they had pitied. But they were all the family he’d honestly ever had. He could barely remember his real parents before the blood of the attack swept them away. 

Still, Makoto’s mother came over to him, carefully, as if he’d run away if she acted too quickly. She cautiously extended a hand and cupped his face. It was a delicate, hesitant touch and it reminded him of when Makoto first kissed him. 

He didn’t mean to but he was crying. 

He was suddenly drawn into a hug, with a soothing motherly tone whispering into his ear, “Haruka, you’re _ok_.”

He didn’t know what to do at this point, completely at a loss. He didn’t like people holding him or hugging him. But when Makoto did it it was ok. And maybe when his mother did it, it was fine as well. 

She released him after a moment, her eyes reddened by the edges. Haru looked up at her searchingly. In her sad gaze he felt like a small child. He let out a shaky breath.

“Makoto... Isn’t with you... Is he?” She asked quietly, slowly. As if accepting the silence as its own answer before she even finished the question. 

Haru shook his head because his voice refused to work. The orca nodded slowly, and it hurt to see her try so hard not to break down right there. Ran glanced up at her worriedly, and Ren abandoned his clinging to the dolphin’s arm in favor of wrapping himself around his mother. And so--

“Shark!” Came the loud echoing cry. Everyone swiveled around to stare at the lone predator. Rin seemed to be trying to get a better look since Haruka had disappeared into the pod. He froze up at the attention, paling at the sight and locking eyes on the dolphin. A plea. 

Haru hesitated a moment, watching as one orca barred its teeth, reading to spring. He decided on mercy, “He is with me.” He said calmly, glancing at Makoto’s personal family apologetically as he left them to swim over to the shark. Rin remained as tense as ever, watching everyone, ready to run at any downward sign.  

“With you?” Ran repeated, following after him along with her brother, despite their mother’s attempt to keep them away from the danger. 

“But that’s the shark!”

“The mean one!”

“The evil one!”

“The one who took Makoto away!” They finished in unison, frowning at the mammal. 

Haruka flinched at the words, trying to hold back the angry glare he wished to give the predator that had caused all this misery. For his part, the shark actually looked quite scared--as he should be, surrounded by vengeful killer whales.

“That’s not what matters right now.” He began carefully, hands trembling at his sides despite his unwavering voice, “I know where Makoto is.” Haru decided to get to the point as fast as he could, seeing the gathered mammals quickly switch back to focus on him at his words. He saw a light spring back up in Makoto’s mother’s eyes. He still couldn’t keep her gaze, and shifted his head to look to the side. 

At that moment, the red headed shark seemed to gather the courage to push his way through beside the dolphin, much to the other’s distaste. His next few words though made him hold his tongue. 

The shark revealed a defiant grin, “And _I_ know how to get him back!”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> HAPPY NEW YEAR! HERE'S A CHAPTER!  
> Great News! I finished Across The Waters last night! All that's left is to edit and then post the last two remaining chapters (well, one and an epilogue). So yeah. Look forward to it.   
> Thanks everyone! See ya in 2015


	18. Chapter 18

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which everyone is happy, well except for Rin, and thus all is right with the world :)

“Hi, It’s Cecilia Simmons out here reporting at Iwatobi beach. Just a few days ago Haru, the poor dolphin from the Iwatobi Park was released. However, its been reported by beach goers that he is lingering near the shore, occasionally coming up with a flip or two. Why is the dolphin still here? Does it long to come back to the center? Or does it miss his once show partner, Mako the Killer Whale still being kept in captivity?

“We’re standing out here in the hopes of catching a glimpse of the poor dolphin.” She continued, spreading her hands out over the calm ocean. She turned around herself just to peak to see if she could catch anything and widened, “Why! I think we just got a lucky break viewers, as I see a dorsal fin peaking out in the distance! Perhaps that’s Haru!”

She grinned at the camera before realizing it wasn’t focused on her at all, but that it was steadfastly remaining on the ocean scene. She frowned at her camera man only to see his mouth agape, “What?” She asked before turning around herself, “Oh! Oh my...thats...Well viewers at home there seems to be a--a whole group of fins coming straight for the beach! I can count uh one...two...five... more than 10 fins! Has there ever been a situation like this before?”

“Oh some are surfacing! A...They’re Killer Whales! Just like Mako! Oh and to the left, camera man point to the left, I think that’s Haru!” She shouted in surprise, completely taken aback, “It’s Haru with a whole pod of killer whales!”

Nagisa slammed the control down and turned off the TV, dialing his cellphone as he raced out of his apartment. 

* * *

“And this will work?” Haruka asked quietly, peering over at the silent beach before them. The moon was high above them, and Makoto’s prison stretched dauntingly above. Even the sight of it made him tense, panicked and scared. He felt like swimming in circles compulsively. But he wasn’t in a pool anymore, he had the the whole wide ocean before him. 

If only his world wasn’t still trapped inside thick cement walls. 

“Of course it will.” Rin snapped, glaring up at the human structure, “Once they recognize you with all those orcas, they’ll put two and two together. And we’ll make sure no human can use the beach in peace until they give him back. But you gotta be at the forefront of it all for it to work.” He added.

Haruka nodded slowly, rubbing his arms as if he had suddenly gotten a chill. zthe water was warm around him. Rin glanced at him from the side. He was smaller than him, more fragile looking. He had dark hair, pale skin, and fragmented blue eyes. His gaze was focused on the building in front of them, lost in memory perhaps.

Rin didn’t really know how to talk to the mammal. He was at a loss. And it didn’t seem as though Haruka was one to share information willingly. 

Which was why he was so surprised when Haruka spoke up, “That place...it lulls you. It dulls you. They feed you fish, but they starve you. It does things. To your head. I...I could never go back. I would die. I almost did.”

Rin furrowed his brows at him, and Haruka finally turn to look at him, face clear of indecision, “But Makoto never left me. And I won’t leave him.”

Rin felt a toothy grin peek out from his lips, red eyes gleaming, “So you’ll lead the charge?”

Haruka gave a curt nod, and Rin could have sworn he saw the barest hint of a smile in the silvery moonlight. But the dolphin had dipped down beneath it he ways before he could mention it. 

* * *

Makoto knew that Haruka was gone. The realization came in the morning, with a sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach. There was an emptiness in the air, in the water, in his heart. Everything was still, stiller than usual. Blue still wasn’t back. Yellow spent more time around him, as if he had one less charge to take care off. 

Makoto stopped calling for Haruka then. He fell silent completely.

He spent most of his time at the bottom of his tank, curled up and pressed against the cement side, far from the glass underwater viewing station. He rested his tired head in his arms, eyes glazed in thought. 

He only stirred to breathe, rising up briefly, before descending down to his spot. He didn’t eat much at all. 

He spent his time imagining his adventures in the ocean with Haruka. Of exploring caverns, of holding hands, of flips and spins. He thought of his little siblings, he thought of his father, he thought of his mother. He smiled at Gou’s stories, at her comfortable weight on his back. He thought of Rin and his snark, and his kind heart. 

Makoto thought of so many things, drawing swirls in the water with his finger, letting out a shaky sigh. He felt his shoulder’s quake. He pressed his face into his stretched out arm, shivering. 

An orca was nothing alone. 

His dorsal fin tickled him, and he squirmed. The thing had drooped further since Haruka pointed it out, the peak folded over enough to occasionally brush against his skin. It didn’t hurt, but the soft barely there touch made him shiver at times. 

It reminded him of Haruka’s touch, of his hands, of his mouth, of his eyes. 

Makoto missed him more than anyone.

He pushed back against the floor of the tank, rising up to take a big gulp of breath, only to find chaos around him. 

* * *

Nagisa pushed his way through the beach crowd, shouting his credentials until he passed the safety tape and was able to see the ocean clearly. A dozen or more black dorsal fins stood tall and proud, swarming the shallow water. The air was a cacophony of clicks and bellows that made his ears ring. 

At the forefront of it all was a lone dolphin, who’s tall leaps could make him mistaken for no other. 

“Haru!” The blond called out, waving wildly. The dolphin seemed to splash in his direction at the sound, and swim dangerously closer. Never too close as to beach himself however. Nagisa was amazed. He had told himself he would never see Haru again, and yet, here the cetacean was.  

He felt a hand on his arm and whirled around in surprise, finding Rei. The blue haired man tugged him close, eyes sparkling, good hand digging his fingers into his skin, “They’re here for him!” He shouted, eyes wide behind his red rimmed glasses. 

Nagisa nodded in understanding, “We’re getting Mako out of here. Today.” The blond affirmed never breaking eye contact with the other.

Rei’s hand slipped down his arm, until his fingers twined with the shorter man’s hand, “Together.”

Nagisa laughed, making Rei grow red with a fluster, but the blond squeezed his hand reassuringly before diving back into the crowd toward the aquatic center. 

The place was already full of commotion, with news of what was happening in the neighboring beach already the gossip of the employees. There were guests crowding Mako’s area, demanding his freedom. Employees were having a rough time keeping them under control. Nagisa wondered how they were able to get so far in. 

The pair were finally able to get into the immediate area around the orca, finding him shrinking away from the loud crowd, looking restless. Rei kept his distance instinctively, and Nagisa couldn’t help but send a glance at his casted arm. It was his first time back with Mako since the incident. 

To Nagisa’s surprise, one of the park’s higher ups was in the area as well, shouting at one of the employees. He turned at their intrusion, and strided toward them, “Hazuki! Finally, someone competent.” He muttered gruffly.

Nagisa swallowed, putting on a smile, “Yes, sir?” He asked, clasping his hands behind his back. Rei stood nervously beside him, fiddling with his cast. 

“You’ll be happy to hear that you’ve gotten your way yet again.” The man glowered, frowning. 

“I’m sorry?” Nagisa blinked, tilting his head. 

“They’ve decided to let the big monster free.” Nagisa’s eyes widened, “Too much trouble, what with the riot on the beach, in the park and by the god damn sea creatures themselves in the ocean. The helicopter will be ready soon, I’ve already called it over. Get someone to announce it to the reporters so the crowd doesn’t go mad when we start picking the creature up. We won’t this done as quickly as possible, so we can get back to our lives.”

For the first time, in a very very long time, Nagisa was speechless. 

But the higher up was already walking away and Nagisa’s mind started to work a mile a minute. “We need to get Mako to swim to the shallow holding pool! We have a helicopter on the way!” He shouted out at the employees fiddling around the area.

Rei came up to him, eyes wide and searching. Nagisa grabbed him, pulling him down, “Rei, I need _you_ to talk to the reporters.”

“Me? I...Fine, but this is all for Mako right? It’s happening, right?”

Nagisa nodded vigorously, “He’s going home.” Rei’s eyes shined, “Now go! Tell that annoying reporter what’s up!” The blue haired man grinned, and in the excitement of the moment pressed his lips to the blond’s. 

He pulled back just as abruptly, red but smiling and started to run off. 

“Rei!” Nagisa called after him, excitement bubbling up within him as he pressed a hand to his lips. 

“According to my sources, it’s a French thing!” The running man explained hurriedly, voice cracking slightly and ruining any effect it would have other than endearingly cute. 

Nagisa couldn’t help the rumble of laughter that left himalmost doubling over, but he drew enough breath to call out, “I’ll see you on the beach as soon as possible!”

Rei waved, and he was gone. 

Nagisa looked down at Mako, grin ever present, and repeated, “Do you hear that Mako? You’re going home.”

Mako ducked down into the water silently, as if escaping the noise. It hurt the blond’s heart, “It couldn’t come sooner for you.” He murmured sadly, and then turned away to his fellow humans, “Get me a light sedative! We gotta prepare him for transport!”

* * *

 

It was not working. 

Nothing had changed. 

The pod was getting restless.

Haruka was getting restless. 

He swam in agitated circles in front of the congregating pod of orcas, a talent he had cultivated in prison, creating erratic waves in the water. The crowd of humans was still large and looming on the beach, but it had been hours now, the sun was well on it’s way toward the west, and nothing had changed. 

Haru ventured closer to the beach, despite his fear, desperation growing within him. _This had to work_. It just had to. There was no Plan B. There was nothing if they didn’t manage to bring Makoto back. 

Haruka felt his chest tighten as he swam into shallower and shallower waters, signaling the orcas to stay safely back. 

It was at this distance, with the sand floor barely scratching at his belly that he spotted a familiar face amongst the crowd. He blinked.

Blue. 

A good sign. 

He remembered seeing Yellow briefly, before he ran back toward the prison’s direction. But that was hours ago now. 

He called out a few clicks, venturing further into the shallow depths, stopping only when he knew he would get stuck if he went an inch further. Blue seemed to catch his eye, breaking from the human holding a stick up to him to start wading into the water toward him. 

Haruka remained still, suddenly hesitant. _He wasn’t trying to bring him back...was he?_

But Blue merely patted his head gently, calling back to the human lady with the stick as if proving a point. He smiled down at the dolphin and Haruka relaxed, feeling at ease. He swam a circle around the human nudging his legs. It elicited a laugh from the other. 

And suddenly the wind picked up, shrieking at them. Haruka ducked under the water instinctively, and there was a great commotion from the pod behind him. He didn’t know what to tell them. He was at a loss for what was happening. 

Rei looked up into the darkening sky, squinting as the wind buffeted his body. The helicopter was finally here, and with it carried the tarp that enclosed Mako. He could see his flippers and tail poking out from the gray material, and he held his breath. He watched as the sand picked up and the tarp was laid down in the shallow water by the beach. A ladder rolled down from the flying vehicle, and he saw the familiar blond climb down carefully, unhooking the tarp from the copter as he went. He jumped down into the waist high water with a light splash. The droplets caught the growing starlight, dancing around his pale face and it took Rei’s breath away.

 _Beautiful_.

“Rei! Help me get him out of the tarp!” Nagisa called, and Rei hurried over without another word, pushing his way through the darkening sea. The crowd was in a roar on the shore, and he could hear the snapping of pictures and the annoying reporter’s voice echoing past them narrating their every move. 

“He’s sedated, but stay away from his mouth, just help me get his fins free from the tarp. Then we can just slip it off and let him go.” Nagisa ordered sternly, focused. Rei swallowed, transfixed on him a moment. He swallowed again, pulling his eyes away to help the slowly rousing cetacean get his fin out of the tarp. Nagisa did the same with the other side.

The pair pulled the tarp under and away from the orca, another one of the park employees snatching it to drag it back out of the water. 

Nagisa laid a hand on the killer whale, smoothing down along his back, “Well, Mako. You’re good to go.” He whispered with a smile. He backed away, motioning for Rei to do the same. The blue haired man did one further, moving to stand beside the blond. Nagisa grinned up at him, wrapping an around his waist to tug him closer. Rei allowed it, although it almost made him lose his balance. 

Makoto blinked slowly, feeling groggy. He was in the air for a while, and now he was back in water. He felt dizzy, confused. He let his hands glide along the water, experimentally. He swished his tail. He was in shallow water, but he could swim. 

He turned his head back and saw Blue and Yellow. They were smiling at him, standing near his tail. Why were they in his tank? He blinked at them. They were waving, pointing him out in the opposite direction.

He looked over. 

The water stretched out til the horizon. Dotting it was an array of black dorsal fins.

All his senses came crashing down on him at once. 

He could hear the great cacophony of human voices on the beach, of familiar cries from the ocean. He could feel the water moving against him, tugging him into it’s depth instead of remaining still. He could taste the salt in the air. The rough sand bit at his tail. 

He froze. 

And then he heard his name. 

“Makoto! Makoto!” 

He turned his head, catching sight of Haruka, bursting toward him, relief in his blue tearing eyes. Suddenly he was engulfed, as Haruka held his face, kissing him deeply. 

Makoto worked on instinct, wrapping an arm around the other to pull him closer. “Haru?”

“You’re safe.” Haruka whispered in his ear as they broke apart and Makoto was full of questions. 

“Makoto!” 

The pair whirled around, seeing the shark push his way through. Makoto’s eyes widen, eyes sparkling, “Rin!”

Rin gave a huge toothy grin, barreling into him as well. He gave him a tight hug before knocking him a rough slap on the head, “God, don’t you ever do that to me again big guy!” He snapped, but his eyes were welling up with tears. 

Makoto gave him a smile and Rin melted, giving a growl under his breath.  “What’s going on?” The orca asked, heart rushing, senses overloading, mind trying to grasp the events happening around him. 

Haruka tugged at Makoto, ignoring his question, “Let’s go. Your family misses you.”

Makoto stared at him, heart swelling, “They’re here?” His voice almost broke. 

Haruka nodded, brushing his brown hair back with soft smile.

It gave Makoto the ability to catch a glance with his peripheral vision at the crowd behind him, at Blue and Yellow still watching, “We should say goodbye.” He murmured because they had always been kind, and he had only caused the trouble. Rin snorted at the sentimentality because humans _always_ sucked. Makoto was too kind for his own good. At least that hadn’t changed. 

Haruka pressed his forehead against the orca’s, “Alright.”

And without another word the pair swam toward the two handlers. The humans seemed tense at the sudden turn of events but when they saw no antagonistic behavior they simply laughed and smiled. Patting their heads. 

Rin followed them instinctively without much thought, mostly because it was awkward to just wade here alone. 

“SHARK!” The crowd shrieked. “Shark?” Nagisa repeated, gasping as the creature appeared millimeters in front of him, teeth gleaming and sharp next to his leg. “Shark!” Rei screeched, and without another thought punched the creature in the nose as he had read in many works of science before it could even try to bite his Nagisa. 

“Fuck!” Rin squacked, backing off and holding his bleeding nose in shock. Fuck humans. Fuck them all. Fuck everything. He quickly retreated back, growling and trying to contain the blood trail. “Rin!” Makoto called, following after him into the deep waters, giving one last glance. Haruka nudged Blue’s hand one last time, trying to hide an amused smile, before leaving them for the pod. 

Rei was heaving, barely attentive to the soft touch by the dolphin. He looked over at Nagisa, wide eyed and frazzled, “Are you alright?”

Nagisa stared at him, adoringly, “You punched a shark in the face for me.”

Rei licked his lips, reddening, “Yeah, I-I guess I did.”

 “That is the single _hottest_ thing anyone’s ever done for me.” Nagisa breathed out, staring up at him. Rei gulped. The blond sprang on him, and the pair tumbled into the water with a heavy splash. 

“Hey, hey Rei you know there’s something else I’ve decided.” Nagisa mentioned, between kisses.

“Yeah?” Rei prompted, breathless, distracted, glasses askew.

“I’m quitting this stupid job.” 

Rei blinked, “Good.”

“Good?” The blond raised a brow, brushing hair from Rei’s drenched face.

“Because I am too.”

Nagisa cheered, nuzzling into the other’s neck. Rei wrapped his good arm around him, and the two laughed in the shallow salty waters, reveling in newfound freedom. 

Haruka rejoined the two predators out in the ocean, with Makoto examining the shark’s poor face, “I think it’ll heal fine. It doesn’t seem broken.” The orca assured with an apologetic smile. 

Rin let out a huff, pulling away to rub at his face, “Fucking humans.”

Haruka sidled up next to Makoto tangling their hands together, Rin glanced and looked away. He was reminded about how that was all Makoto would ever talk about, how much he loved holding his dolphin’s hand. It was kind of revoltingly sweet.

“It’s so good to see you, Rin.” Makoto continued, changing the subject with a happy smile, “I really missed you. And Gou! How is she?” He pressed, warmly.

Rin grew very pale and took in an unsteady breath. He looked away shakily, but he couldn’t do it. He couldn’t say anything. Haruka peered at him, and there was gleen of understanding in his eyes that Rin found a surprising amount of comfort in. Makoto frowned, tilting his head, and was about to probe further when Haruka tugged his hand, “Your family is waiting.” Rin took the distraction to slip away. Makoto needed his time with his family now. He didn’t want to ruin it with terrible news. Plus, he needed to check on Ai. He would visit the cetaceans later. He needed a moment to breathe. 

“My family...” Makoto repeated, reverentially, completely focused on this new reunion. He nodded quickly following as Haruka lead him toward the pod where he was soon engulfed by familiar loving faces. His twin siblings--so much bigger than he remembered--clung to his sides. His mother and father held him close. Haruka kept near, never straying far. He had never felt so warm, so loved, so at peace. 

He was home. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> aaaah and we're done! woo! thanks for reading! i hope you enjoyed!
> 
> there will be an epilogue and thats it
> 
> it was a fun ride guys. see ya and thank you


	19. Epilogue

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> in which all things come to their happy end

“Haru! The pods leaving!” 

Haruka roused himself up from his nap, blinking up at the offered hand. He took it and was hauled up from the smooth rock he had been lounging on. He yawned and leaned heavily against the orca sleepily. Makoto let out a warm laugh, bending down to give him a couple pecks on his cheek. Haruka mumbled something but finally started waking up properly. 

“I gotta go tell Rin we’re going.” The orca continue, nodding over to the direction he assumed the predator to be.

Haruka nodded, and followed, side by side, as they searched for the shark. He rubbed his eyes tiredly with his free hand, other wrapped tightly around his mate. The pair found the shark with his gray haired companion. “Rin!”

The shark looked up with a toothy grin, motioning for Ai to follow him as he joined the two cetaceans, “Yeah?”

“Pod’s leaving.” Haruka informed simply, finally fully awake. 

“Oh. Already? Jeez don’t you guys ever chill?” Rin laughed, “Scheduled migrations take some getting used to.” He continued despite Nitori jabbing him in his side. He ruffled the pilot fish’s hair in retaliation, earning him a cute little squeak. 

“Where will be off to Mr. Makoto?” Nitori asked, once he regained his composur, peering up at him with his good eye. 

“We’ll be heading back in the direction of the shore.” The orca responded with a sad smile, a sadness tinging his green eyes. 

The two fish nodded, sharing a solemn look, “We’ll visit Gou and Sei while we’re there.” Rin decided, and Nitori smiled with a silent nod. Makoto looked guiltily away, biting his lip. No matter how much Rin reassured him he still felt terrible about what had happen to his sister. If only he hadn’t acted so rashly, if only he hadn’t gotten them involved, if only--

Haruka nudged him back to reality as he was slipping. The fish were heading over to the pod, pausing to look back at the slower cetaceans, “You comin’ or what?” The shark called impatiently.

“I want to see something before we go.” Haruka mumbled, and Makoto squeezed his hand in acknowledgement.

“Go ahead! We’ll meet you guys in a few!” The orca shouted back, and the fish shrugged before departing. He turned back to the dolphin, “Lead the way.”

Haruka smiled softly, tugging his hand as he swam away into a bright clearing near the surface of the ocean. Within its shallow depths sat a rocky cave. Makoto’s eyes widened at the sight, “You remembered where it was?” He breathed glancing down at the dolphin.

“I refound it when we first got back here, but I didn’t want to explore it again without you.” Haruka explained, slipping into the cave’s mouth delicately. He paused after a moment, hesitating, “Unless you don’t want to see it. Then we can just leave.” He reminded, leveling the other a concerned look.

Makoto smiled and assured, “I want to see it.” 

Haruka kissed him sweetly, taking his hand and swimming into the cave. They were forced to let go of each other as the cave became thinner and shallower and darker, only being able to continue in single file. Haruka kept looking back at the orca, worry shining in his blue eyes, but Makoto did not shake, did not fear. He simply smiled. 

They reached the small familiar hole and Haruka slipped through easily enough. He dipped back down to work at the opening to make it bigger for his mate, but to their surprise, Makoto fit through quite easily. Haruka blinked up at him curiously, brows furrowed. Makoto never fit _anywhere_.

Makoto smiled sheepishly, “I guess there’s some perks to a folded dorsal fin.” He thought aloud with a slight awkward chuckle. Haruka looked pained, drawing him closer with a mournful frown. 

“I’m sorry.” The dolphin whispered, and Makoto shook his head but Haruka continued, “Thank you for finding me. For saving me.”

“You don’t need to thank me for something like that.” Makoto kissed him, smiling brighter, “It’s a given.”

Haruka buried his face in the orcas chest, nuzzling into the comforting warmth. Makoto held him close, rubbing soothing circles into his black hair. “Come on, we’re missing the pretty view.” He whispered softly, nudging the other.

He rose up and broke the surface of the pool of water, bringing the dolphin up with him. They breached the water, and the orca looked up at the small opening at the very top of the cave where the moon shone through, filling the space with its dim shining light. It gave the place an unearthly glow and made the water shimmer beautifully as it reflected the numerous stars above. Haruka peaked his head up and looked around in awe before finally resting his eyes on Makoto’s face above him. 

Makoto could feel the warmth of the others gaze on his skin and it felt as if _he_ was glowing rather than the water around him. He finally glanced down, smiling broadly and pressing more warm kisses on the dolphins face. 

They stayed like that, tangled together under the stars for moments that felt like ages before finally breaking apart. Hand in hand they left to find their pod. 

* * *

“Rei. Rei. _Rei_!” Nagisa cried, shaking the sleeping blue haired man beside him. Rei sat up blearily, palming for his glasses by his side and slipping them on quickly. Nagisa was hovering over him, eyes shining. But in seconds he had left his side in order to stand against the edge of the research boat, leaning so far over it looked as if he would fall any second. 

Rei scrambled onto his feet, rushing over to grab the other by the waist and steady him back on the ship. “Nagisa, careful!” 

“Rei, _look_.” The blond insisted, tugging the other by the collar to look out at the dark sea. There were orcas everywhere, suddenly surface in a group, water spraying everywhere as they breathed, some of it sprinkling the pair of humans. “They’re getting ready to move!” Nagisa explained, “Go start the boat!” 

Rei hesitated, in awe of the massive creatures surrounding their little ship. The animals mostly ignored their existence as they headed on their way. “R-Right.” Rei nodded, tripping over to the controls. The ship rumbled to life, and Nagisa clicked on his video camera to start the new log, “December 31st, Dawn of the New Year! The orca pod moves on! And we, humble marine bioligists shall follow them on their epic journey! Where will they take us?” He narrated, getting lovely panning shots of the swimming cetaceans, “Will they journey to unknown lands? Unknown worlds? Will there be aliens?”

“Actually,” Rei interrupted, forcing Nagisa to point the camera towards him, “Based on previous dating they are most likely following the same migratory route and will be heading in the direction of our home town.” He continued matter of factly, gaining a pout from his shorter shipmate. 

“No fun! Why do you have to be so statistical all the time?” Nagisa bemoaned, swirling the camera back to something more interesting, like the orcas. 

“We’re supposed to be _scientists,_ Nagisa.” Rei insisted.

“He’s even like this in bed, ya know.” Nagisa continued into the camera tragically. 

Rei squawked, “You better edit that out of the video!” He snapped.

Nagisa laughed, giving the camera a wink before returning his gaze to the migrating animals. By now they could recognize the entire pod, each with their own name and observed personality from their months of study. They could pick them apart by dorsal fin alone! And as one folded black fin rose up into the air beside a much smaller silvery blue, Nagisa’s heart soared. 

“Rei look! Haru and Mako are here!” He bounced, pointing and zooming in on the pair of cetaceans. Rei smiled broadly at the sight. 

Haruka swam at full speed, relishing the feel of the wind against his skin, of the water moving with and against him, of no walls to close him in. Makoto swam beside him, occasionally nudging him, reminding him of his presence and warmth. This was heaven. This was freedom. 

Haruka dove down suddenly, lifting up to make a modest but beautifully executed flip. Makoto laughed, grinning up at his favorite sight. The dolphin allowed a small smile on his own visage from the reaction. His peace was soon disrupted. 

“You call _that_ a flip?” Rin barked, sliding up beside Makoto, Nitori in toe, “Listen, dolphin boy, let me tell you that I’ve been practicing hard and that ain’t no flip.” 

Haruka snorted, eyeing the shark. Makoto continued to laugh good naturedly, “I thought you didn’t like flips, Rin?”

“I never said I did.” The shark retorted, “All I’m sayin’ is I wont lose to you on this, Haru. Ai back me up.”

“I think Rin is very good at flips.” Nitori stated nervously, diplomatically.

“We can just all do as many flips and jumps as we want. It’s fun.” Makoto suggested, diving down to do his own graceful arc. And their swimming commenced once more, this time punctuated with graceful and less than graceful flips, dives, jumps and arcs. Laughter and smiles and the occasionally frustrated growl echoed throughout the chilly air. 

Their laughter caught the attention of Makoto’s personal family, and soon Even the twins joined in, much to their big brother’s delight. 

It was wonderful. 

And once the fun had died down as cetaceans and fish alike grew tired and sleepy, the calm returned. The twins swam back to their mother’s side. Rin and Nitori dove deeper down to breathe better. And Haruka and Makoto returned to their hand holding. 

It was in this quiet that Haruka spoke up once more, “I’m never swimming circles again.” Makoto laughed, squeezing the others hand tighter. They had both swam circles for a lifetime. All that was left was to move forward.

Together.

Because all that mattered was their ever present companionship, and the fact that it would remain just that—ever present.

From now on and forever. 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ITS OVER! THANK YOU FOR STICKING WITH ME THE PAST YEAR AND A HALF!  
> I'M REALLY PROUD OF MYSELF FOR STICKING THROUGH IT
> 
> but yeah I hope you guys enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed writing!
> 
> feel free to bother me on my tumblr: findingschmomo.tumblr.com
> 
> see you next water time!


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